Sandfield Road is a road in the suburb of

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. It is close to the

John Radcliffe Hospital John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

. It was home to author and academic

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

in the 1950s and 1960s.

Notable residents

Hugo Dyson Henry Victor Dyson Dyson (7 April 1896 – 6 June 1975), generally known as Hugo Dyson and who signed his writings H. V. D. Dyson, was an English academic and a member of the Inklings literary group. He was a committed Christian, and together w ...

, a member of the

literary group called the

Inklings The Inklings were an informal literature, literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusia ...

, lived at 32 Sandfield Road until his death in 1975.
/ref> Sandfield Road's most famous resident was the author and academic

, another member of the Inklings, who lived at No 76 with his wife Edith from 1953 to 1968, towards the end of his time in Oxford. There is an inscription above the garage. When living here, Tolkien attended the Catholic Church, Catholic Church of St Anthony of Padua in nearby Headley Way. Tolkien previously lived in Northmoor Road,

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian architecture, Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the co ...

, and Holywell Street, in central Oxford. The following volumes of Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' novel were first published while he lived in this house: * ''

The Fellowship of the Ring ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien; it is followed by ''The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. The action takes place in th ...

'' (1954) * ''

The Two Towers ''The Two Towers'', first published in 1954, is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is preceded by '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and followed by ''The Return of the King''. The volume's t ...

'' (1954) * ''

The Return of the King ''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...

'' (1955) Tolkien attended the Church of St Anthony of Padua nearby (opened in 1960) when he was a resident in Sandfield Road. In due course, Tolkien's private address at Sandfield Road received some publicity and his telephone number was in the Oxford telephone directory. In 1968, partly due to harassment by fans at his home in Sandfield Road, Tolkien moved to

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

on the south coast of England.

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

, an admirer of Tolkien, described his Sandfield Road house by reportedly stating "He lives in a hideous house, I can't tell you how awful it is — with hideous pictures on the walls."

Other information

Sandfield Day Nursery is in Sandfield Road.

References

Streets in Oxford J. R. R. Tolkien Sandfield Road {{England-road-stub