J.R.R. Tolkien's Birmingham (inspiration for The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings)

J. R. R. Tolkien lived in the Birmingham area from when he was a child until he left for Oxford. Famous for writing The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings he lived in Sarehole, a hamlet now in Moseley, and later Edgbaston.

Sarehole 1896 - 1900

Tolkien lived with his mother Mabel and his younger brother Hilary from about 1896 to 1900 in house near the bottom of Wake Green Road in the hamlet of Sarehole (now part of Moseley). Nearby was Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog which inspired him to create The Shire in The Hobbit. There is now a nearby country park that runs alongside the River Cole called The Shire Country Park.

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Moseley Bog where JRR Tolkien and his younger brother would play as children. Inspiration for woods in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

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Tolkien lived in a property on Wake Green Road close to Moseley Bog and opposite Sarehole Mill. It is now Gracewell Cottages and is home to retired people. The Tolkien family lived at 264 Wake Green Road. Also known as No 5 Gracewell Cottages.

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Originally made for Birmingham's 2013 display at the Chelsea Flower Show, these models of The Two Towers (Perrott's Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks Tower) were later moved to the garden area in front of the Library of Birmingham (before it opened in September 2013). A few years later in 2015, they were moved to an area close to Sarehole Mill where they are on permenant display.

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Edgbaston 1900 - 1911

The Tolkien's later moved to Edgbaston. His mother placed the Tolkien boys in the guardianship of Father Francis Xavier Morgan of the Birmingham Oratory before her death. Inspiration for The Two Towers came from Perrott's Folly and the Edgbaston Waterworks Tower.

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The Birmingham Oratory seen on the Hagley Road in Edgbaston near Ladywood. JRR Tolkien was a parishioner and altar boy here from about 1902 to 1911. Not far from his homes at the time.

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This was the home on Highfield Road in Edgbaston of Tolkien. He lived at No. 4 from 1910-11. He previously lived at Duchess Place in Ladywood from 1902 to about 1910. A modern building called Teleperformance House is on that site from the Hagley Road.

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The Plough and Harrow pub on the Hagley Road in Edgbaston. Tolkien stayed here in June 1916 according to a blue plaque on the side of the building.

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