Inscriptions: J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) moved into 76 Sandfield Road, Headington in 1953. A plaque above the garage at the front of the house reads:
J.R.R. TOLKIEN
LIVED HERE
1953–1968
The following books in the Lord of the Rings series were published while Tolkien lived in this house:
- The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
- The Two Towers (1954)
- The Return of the King (1955)
In 1968 the attentions of the fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings at his Sandfield Road home made him flee from Headington to Bournemouth, where he remained until his death in 1973.