Lord of the Rings cast members back crowdfunding campaign to buy JRR Tolkien’s former Oxford house

Sir Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman are among those backing the project

Some of the cast of the Lord of the Rings film adaptations have backed a campaign to purchase JRR Tolkien’s Oxford home.

The crowdfunding effort, named Project Northmoor, aims to transform the home of the late fantasy writer into a literary museum in Tolkien’s honour.

The house, on Northmoor Road in Oxford, is recognised as the site where Tolkien lived from 1930 to 1947, in which time he wrote The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The proposed museum would reportedly be the first such installation dedicated to Tolkien anywhere in the world.

Project Northmoor was launched by author Julia Golding, and aims to raise £4.5m within three months to purchase the house before it goes on the market.

Among the franchise actors backing the project are Sir Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Martin Freeman, who played Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit films, and John-Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli.

The house, which has seven bedrooms and a garden, would, under these proposed plans, be renovated to demonstrate what it looked like during Tolkien’s occupancy. It currently does not belong to the Tolkien estate, which is not involved with Project Northmoor. 

“Unbelievably, considering his importance, there is no centre devoted to Tolkien anywhere in the world,” said Rhys-Davies. 

“The vision is to make Tolkien’s house into a literary hub that will inspire new generations of writers, artists and film-makers for many years to come.”