Lord of the Rings discovery to net demolition worker £250,000

A demolition worker could make more than £250,000 after finding a postcard sent to Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkein hidden in a fireplace in his former home.

Prodem Demolition boss Stephen Malton, of Bournemouth, was stripping a fireplace in the Poole home of the author when he unearthed three postcards.

One of them was dated 1968 and clearly addressed to JRR Tolkein.

Research on the internet showed another tiled fireplace surround for Tolkein’s Oxford home is for sale for £126,000 and the postcard could be worth £140,000.

A collector in Belgium has reportedly offered more than £250,000 for both items.

But Mr Malton said he hopes to sell the fireplace, postcard, a bronze fairy and stone gryphon found in the garden at auction and at a later date.

He said: “You could have knocked me down with a feather.

“To find something with the Tolkein name on it is quite amazing.

“We have looked under the floors, if we find a Hobbit that will be the icing on the cake.”

The postcard depicts a landscape in Cork, Ireland and is signed ‘Lin’, which could be fantasy author Lin Carter.

It reads: “I have been thinking of you a lot and hope everything has gone as well as could be expected in the most difficult circumstances.”

The Poole home is being demolished to make way for two four-bedroom homes by Cranbrook Homes (Southern).