# Tolkien's House demolished



## Mikey C (Jul 9, 2008)

Tolkien's house in Poole has been demolished - in the process the contractor has found a postcard, believed to come from Lin Carter. He wants to sell it and the fireplace for $500,000. Any takers?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080708/od_nm/tolkien_postcard_dc_1


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## Barliman Butterbur (Jul 10, 2008)

Mikey C said:


> Tolkien's house in Poole has been demolished - in the process the contractor has found a postcard, believed to come from Lin Carter. He wants to sell it and the fireplace for $500,000. Any takers?
> 
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080708/od_nm/tolkien_postcard_dc_1



What about the house???!! It should have been turned into a museum! What an insult! Who cares about the damn postcard?

Barley


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## HLGStrider (Jul 11, 2008)

Well, of all the places Tolkien could have lived without this is probably the one. Lived their for four years and if I remember it was basically the house his wife wanted and he hated it. Still, it does have some historical and sentimental significance to fans even if it had none to the author himself.


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## Eledhwen (Jul 13, 2008)

That's one to strike off the Tolkien Trail. It looks like a typical retirement home, and I doubt there were any memorabilia left (except the postcard, of course!) I expect they'll call the new development Tolkien Mews, or something equally tacky - almost like saying "Look what we demolished!".




The full story (as linked by Barley) ....

A demolition man stripping a fireplace from the former home of "The Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien stumbled across a postcard to the writer dated 1968, and hopes to sell it for a small fortune. 

Stephen Malton, who runs Prodem Demolition in Bournemouth on the south English coast, was working in the house in the nearby town of Poole before it was bulldozed to make way for a new construction project.

"Before we demolish a house we do an internal strip out," Malton said Tuesday.

"One of the main features was a fireplace, and upon removing that we came across three postcards. The third one was a postcard dated 1968 and addressed to J.R.R. Tolkien."

Malton said research on the Internet suggested that the carved wooden fireplace with marble inlay, a feature of the house when Tolkien lived there from 1968 to 1972, was already worth up to $250,000.

"To tie in both the fireplace and the postcard, we are talking about a price of around $500,000 for the combined pair," the 42-year-old told Reuters by telephone.

He contacted the Tolkien Estate, which manages the author's copyrights, and said that they had given him the all clear to sell the fireplace and postcard. The estate could not immediately be reached for comment.

Malton said he would probably sell the items at auction, although according to local newspaper the Dorset Echo, he has already had an offer from a Tolkien enthusiast in Belgium.

The postcard was addressed to Tolkien at the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth, where he and his wife Edith often stayed.

It is from "Lin," which Malton believed could be fellow fantasy author Lin Carter who wrote "Tolkien: A Look Behind 'The Lord of the Rings,'" published in 1969.

Depicting a scene from Ireland, it reads: "I have been thinking of you a lot and hope everything has gone as well as could be expected in the most difficult circumstances."

Malton was not sure what the "difficult circumstances" might be.

Tolkien had achieved fame by the time he moved to Poole in 1968. His epic "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, already popular before the hugely successful film adaptations appeared, was published in 1954-55.

He remained in Poole until his wife's death, when he moved back to Oxford. Tolkien died in 1973, aged 81.

*** El's note: Tolkien died in Bournemouth - just down the road from Poole, so although he might not have been fond of the house, he did like the area.


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## Firawyn (Aug 24, 2008)

Barliman Butterbur said:


> What about the house???!! It should have been turned into a museum! What an insult! Who cares about the damn postcard?
> 
> Barley



I'm with Barley on this one! 

Though I have to admit, if that ever happened to the Kilns...OMG I'd kill them.


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## Eledhwen (Aug 26, 2008)

The Kilns is safe, not least because the house has a bit of character; and also because it is being operated as a trust.

The demolished house was unremarkable, and I suspect the planning permission required for the demolition went through very quietly (passers-by would have to notice a piece of paper tacked outside the house, inviting objections; but as the house was not well known as a Tolkien home, it was probably hardly even read). This happens a lot; usually because a local builder, with 'connections' on the Council's planning committee, has spotted a little infill development opportunity.

I don't know if other countries have this, but in the UK there is a blue plaque scheme, whereby houses owned or occupied by the famous have a small blue plaque on the front commemorating the person involved, so that passers-by and tourists know about it. If this house had been designated, it would never have been demolished; and I have to wonder why it was overlooked.


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## Firawyn (Aug 27, 2008)

It's about the principle, Eledhwen. Are you a Tolkien nerd or are you not?!


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## Eledhwen (Aug 28, 2008)

Firawyn said:


> It's about the principle, Eledhwen. Are you a Tolkien nerd or are you not?!


Do I think all Tolkien related sites should be blue plaque? Of course (perhaps not the grave)! Do I think the landlord of the Lamb & Flag should be prosecuted for desecration? probably! 


Do I think they should change the name of my home town from *Wootton Bassett to Wootton Major? Of course! Does this mean I'm a TNerd?



*It was just Wootton (from the Saxon 'Wodeton') until a self-important 12c Norman called Alan Bassett decided to add his surname to all his holdings.


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## HLGStrider (Aug 28, 2008)

And then he had Bertie Wooster arrested for stealing his cow creamer until Spode took the heat for it because he didn't want Jeeves to reveal that he was a designer of ladies' underwear . . . 

Nevermind.


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## Firawyn (Aug 28, 2008)

Eledhwen said:


> Do I think all Tolkien related sites should be blue plaque? Of course (perhaps not the grave)! Do I think the landlord of the Lamb & Flag should be prosecuted for desecration? probably!
> 
> 
> Do I think they should change the name of my home town from *Wootton Bassett to Wootton Major? Of course! Does this mean I'm a TNerd?
> ...



You tell me m'dear, you tell me.  I enjoy being called a nerd...afterall it is nerds that grow up to rule the world you know.


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## Eledhwen (Aug 29, 2008)

Firawyn said:


> You tell me m'dear, you tell me.  I enjoy being called a nerd...afterall it is nerds that grow up to rule the world you know.


Yay! a Nurdiarchy.

@HLGS

Spode? Ladies Underwear?


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## HLGStrider (Aug 29, 2008)

Bassett is the name of a character in the PG Wodehouse "Jeeves and Wooster" books (which were also a very funny TV series for awhile staring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry). He is the tyrannical father of a girl who Wooster will be doomed to marry if her engagement to another man falls through. I just think about it every time you say your location. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Watkyn_Bassett


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## Eledhwen (Aug 31, 2008)

HLGStrider said:


> Bassett is the name of a character in the PG Wodehouse "Jeeves and Wooster" books


I should read them. Sir Watkyn Bassett is quite obviously a descendent! 

This article confirms that there was a plaque over the house, confirming that Tolkien lived there for fifteen years (he can't have hated it that much, then!). The article artistically calls the demolition "recent refurbishment".

This is the fireplace (fire surround, really), which is from the master bedroom, which someone thought would look better with a pair of non-complementing brass candlesticks:


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