John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the world-famous author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was a junior officer in the Lancashire Fusiliers and was stationed at Rugeley and Brocton Military Camps in Staffordshire between November 1915 and June 1916. After his marriage to Edith Bratt in March 1916, she took up residence in Great Haywood, a small village near the county town of Stafford, where Tolkien visited regularly. His time here was a formative period in the development of his later work and we explain in this website how the various features of Great Haywood influenced him. You can also trace his footsteps by following our unique Tolkien Trail.

Tolkien in Great Haywood has been devised and funded by a joint enterprise of 4 village organisations.