Heritage Lottery Fund awards £9,900 to The Haywood Society for ‘J. R. R. Tolkien in Staffordshire’ touring exhibition.

The Haywood Society, based in the Parish of Colwich, Stafford Borough, has received £9,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a project ‘J. R. R. Tolkien in Staffordshire, 1915-18’.  Awarded through HLF’s ‘First World War: then and now’ programme, the project will focus on creating a touring Exhibition celebrating the importance of Staffordshire in the early life of J. R. R. Tolkien and in particular the influence of the county on his early writings and the development of Middle-earth.

To mark the centenary of the First World War and Tolkien’s time in Staffordshire, the project will enable local people in Staffordshire to come together to explore and discover the ‘Tolkien in Staffordshire’ story.  An exciting touring Exhibition, organised by The Haywood Society, supported by the Staffordshire Libraries and Arts Service and the Museum of Cannock Chase, will be launched in March 2016.  It will focus on the time that Tolkien spent in Staffordshire during the First World War and seek to highlight the story for local residents, school groups, visitors to the county and interested groups such as The Tolkien Society and Tolkien scholars and enthusiasts.  It will involve adults and young people, including local schools, in heritage, literary and artistic activities, and recruit ‘Tolkien in Staffordshire’ volunteers to explain and interpret the story to the visiting public.

During the Great War Second Lieutenant J. R. R. Tolkien of the Lancashire Fusiliers was stationed in Staffordshire, first at Whittington Heath, near Lichfield, next at a musketry camp at Newcastle-under-Lyme, then at Rugeley and Brocton Camps on Cannock Chase.  After his marriage in March 1916 Tolkien’s wife came to live in Great Haywood so that she could be close to him.  Tolkien regularly visited Edith in the village until he was posted to France in June 1916.

Tolkien returned to Great Haywood in early December 1916 to recover from his traumatic experiences at the Somme and a serious bout of trench fever.  He lived with Edith in a cottage there until late February 1917 and during this time wrote his first mythological stories, in part inspired by Staffordshire landscapes and experiences.

After a brief posting to East Yorkshire, Tolkien returned to Staffordshire in 1918 and lived in a cottage at Gipsy Green, Teddesley Park, near Penkridge, where other important work was undertaken.

Staffordshire, during the years of the Great War, was responsible for providing inspiration and illustration to J. R. R. Tolkien. It was a time of great turmoil and uncertainty, physical and emotional fragility and loss; he was flung into the most ghastly of wars which would scar a generation and his experiences on the bleak army camps, the village of Great Haywood and his wanderings in the county’s countryside inspired his creativity and led to immortalisation in his developing mythology and geography of what we now know as Middle-earth.

Commenting on the award David Robbie, Project Leader for The Haywood Society, said, “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and welcome the opportunity to tell the largely untold story of ‘Tolkien in Staffordshire’, which will have local, national and international appeal.”

Vanessa Harbar, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund West Midlands, said: “The impact of the First World War touched every corner of the UK. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £70million in projects – large and small – that are marking this global Centenary; with our small grants programme, we are enabling even more communities, like those involved in the J. R. R. Tolkien in Staffordshire project, to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world”

Heritage Lottery Fund and support for First World War heritage:

Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about – from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife, we use National Lottery players’ money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about.  www.hlf.org.uk. @heritagelottery.

To date, over £70million in HLF grants has been awarded to projects across the UK so they can mark the Centenary and explore all aspects of First World War heritage that matters to them. Through its First World War: then and now programme, HLF is providing grants between £3,000 and £10,000 enabling communities and groups right across the UK to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict.  To find out how to apply for funding visit www.hlf.org.uk/thenandnow.  If a group needs a grant of more than £10,000 for a First World War project, it can apply to HLF through its open programmes www.hlf.org.uk/firstworldwar.

For further information please contact David Robbie on 01889 881794 or at [email protected]