The Conan Doyle. Located close to The Conan Doyle is Picardy Place, where the pub's namesake, the great author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22nd 1859. There have been houses on this site since 1685 when French refugees (who had fled the province of Picardy due to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes when Louis XIV declared Protestantism illegal) built Picardy village. Today, an over life-size bronze statue of Conan Doyle's greatest creation, Sherlock Holmes, stands opposite hos birthplace. The most famous fictional detective is portrayed in meditation on the death of his author.