Sarehole Mill

2026-07-14T03:58:12Z

Jeremy: Correcting date rom 1986 to 1896; Tolkien cannot possibly have moved here in 1986 on account of being 13 years dead

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{{location infobox
| name=Sarehole Mill
| image=Sarehole_Mill.jpg
| caption=Sarehole Mill
| map={{#display_map:Sarehole Mill Cole Bank Road Birmingham B13 0BD|width=300|height=150|scrollwheelzoom=off}}
}}
{{Quote|Though a Tolkien by name, I am a Suffield by tastes, talents, and upbringing, and any corner of that county [Worcestershire] (however fair or squalid) is in an indefinable way 'home' to me, as no other part of the world is.|[[Letter 44]]}}

The '''Sarehole Mill''' standing on the Cole Bank Road, is a water mill located in Sarehole, [[Birmingham]]. [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] lived within 300 meters of the mill between 1896 and 1900, from the ages of four to eight. The mill is now a museum run by the Birmingham Museums Trust.

==History of the Mill==
Sarehole Mill was built in 1765 on the site of an even older mill, Biddle's Mill, which dated back to 1540. Sarehole was used mostly to grind corn. Matthew Boulton's father rented the Mill and Sarehole farm in 1756. When his father died, Boulton used the Mill for making buttons and for metal rolling until he moved his operations to Handsworth in 1761. In the late 1890s Sarehole was the childhood haunt of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] and [[Hilary Tolkien|his brother]], and famously used as inspiration for [[the Shire]].

===Tolkien and the Mill===
[[Image:GeoAndrew.jpg|thumb|right|The millers, George Andrew senior and junior (the "White Ogre") can be seen (taken in [[1890]]).]]

In [[1896]] [[Mabel Suffield]] settled with her children at 5 Gracewell (now 264 Wake Green Road), a cottage in Sarehole village. It was only four miles from the centre of [[Birmingham]] but it was then still set within the north Worcestershire countryside. Coming from the hot dry landscape of South Africa, the green fields and woods made a vivid impression on Tolkien.

The Tolkien boys had nicknamed the younger miller "White [[Ogres|Ogre]]" because of his white dusty face. Whenever they picked blackberries, they had to walk a very narrow path through the miller's field ("the White Ogre's land"), accidentally traipsing off after corncockles and other stuff, angering the owner.<ref>{{B|II}}, p. 21</ref>
[[Image:J.R.R._Tolkien_-_The_Hill_-_Hobbiton-across-the-Water_%28Colored%29.jpg|thumb|left|Hobbiton by JRR Tolkien]]
Sarehole was the model for [[the Shire]], home of [[Bilbo Baggins]] in ''[[The Hobbit]]''. As for the Sarehole Mill it was the inspiration for the [[Old Mill]]. Tolkien based the bad-tempered [[Ted Sandyman]] (the miller) in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.

When Tolkien visited Birmingham with his family in [[1933]] he lamented the changes in Sarehole, as Birmingham had continued to grow until Sarehole was but a suburb in the huge city. In 1933, much of the area was still farmland, but there were many more houses and gardens.

Tolkien subscribed to an appeal for the restoration of the Mill, and since [[2005]] it has been a branch of the city Museums and Art Gallery.<ref name=rc>{{HM|RC}}, p. lxxix</ref> The Mill is open to the public from April to October and for school parties throughout the year.
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==External links==
* [http://www.bplphoto.co.uk/TolkiensBirmingham/TolkienSarehole.htm Tolkien's Birmingham]
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/sarehole.bcc Sarehole Mill]
* [[wikipedia:Sarehole Mill|Sarehole Mill]] on Wikipedia

[[Category:Structures (real-world)]]
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Sarehole Mill