With seven bedrooms and more than 3,300 square feet of accommodation, the former Oxford home of JRR Tolkien could not be more different from Bag End, the small hobbit-hole where Bilbo Baggins lived. Nevertheless, the property at No 20 Northmoor Road has just as special a place in the heart of Lord of the Rings fans, who are coming together to try to turn it into a literary centre in honour of the author. Sir Ian McKellen, Annie Lennox, Martin Freeman and Lord Williams of Oystermouth are among a group of celebrities and luminaries who are leading a campaign to raise £4.5 million for the project. The idea is to use the home, where Tolkien lived from 1930 to 1947 and wrote The Hobbit and

Source: The Times December 04, 2020 00:04 UTC