Tolkien's Childhood Homes
5 Gracewell Cottages
Now 264 Wake Green Road, 5 Gracewell Cottages was the Tolkien's first house in the Birmingham area, just down the street from the Sarehole Mill. In fact, its location relative to the mill lines up with the description of Bag End's location in The Hobbit: cross the river, pass the mill on your right, turn right down the road, and walk just up the hill.
86 Westfield Road, King's Heath
The Tolkiens moved to 86 Westfield Rd. after a brief period living in a house in Moseley, when that house was scheduled to be demolished. Though a rail line ran just behind the house and it was far from the lush countryside that Ronald had loved in Sarehole, there was more green here than at the Moseley house and Ronald was intrigued by the Welsh names he saw on the passing train cars.
Fern Cottage, Rednal
Fern Cottage was a property owned by the priests of the Oratory, and was the last place where Mabel, Ronald, and Hilary lived together. It marks a turning point in Tolkien's childhood, and we feel it deserves its own page. It can be found under the "Childhood Homes" tab above.
25 Stirling Road
The house at 25 Stirling Road was not a place of pleasant memories for Ronald Tolkien or his brother Hilary, as the two boys were hastily moved here after their mother's death. Their aunt, Beatrice, lived here and was called upon to take care of the boys until suitable accommodations could be found by the church. Beatrice, childless and recently widowed, was a cold caretaker to the boys; one day Ronald came home to discover that she had burned all of Mabel's letters and personal papers without even stopping to consider that her children may have wanted to keep them.
37 Duchess Place, Ladywood Birmingham
37 Duchess Place, Ladywood, Birmingham was J.R.R. Tolkien’s place of residence from 1908 to 1910. In 1908, the brothers’ guardian, Father Francis Morgan of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri moved the brothers to 37 Dutchess Place, Ladywood, Birmingham to stay with one Mrs. Faulkner after realizing that the environment of Stirling road was miserable for the two children—mostly due to their aunt. It was in that residence that Tolkien met Edith Bratt, the woman he would later marry.
During his time at 37 Dutchess Place, Edith Bratt and Ronald Tolkien went for frequent evening jaunts in the Lickey Hills area, where their fast friendship blossomed into an innocent young love. The two would go for bicyle rides together and would frequent a cafe with a high second level from which the two would toss sugar cubes into the hats of passerby until the cubes at their table were extinguished—at which point the two would move on to another table to replenish their ammunition for the next volley.
The two would eventually be found out, and the reaction of Tolkien’s caretakers would separate the two for a time. Father Francis disapproved of their affection for one another. He thought it a dangerous distraction from the young Tolkien’s studies. He ordered Tolkien to cease contact with Edith, and Tolkien unquestioningly obeyed. Father Francis subsequently removed Tolkien from 37 Duchess Place in 1910.
4 Highfield Road
Ronald and his brother Hilary Tolkien lived in a house on 4 Highfield Road from 1910-1911. The boys were compelled to move here from their home on Duchess Road after Father Francis Morgan became aware of a relationship between Ronald and another resident, Edith Bratt. This home was near the Oratory and was to be the last house Ronald lived within in Birmingham. During his stay here, Ronald was banned from seeing Edith ever again and she moved to Cheltenham after one last meeting.