Roos Tolkien Statues Unveiled

It was raining gently when I arrived in Roos.  Luckily, it was fairly easy to find a parking place. It felt as though a wedding was taking place as the church bells were pealing loudly but pleasantly.  I reached the church porch just when the heavens opened, so I missed the worst of the deluge.  Other attendees weren’t quite so fortunate.  

Roos Church in the Rain

We were welcomed inside and shown to our reserved seating.  We were offered a Tolkien Triangle leaflet and the chance of a special made LotR bun &/or a hot or cold drink.  

A LotR- themed bun/cupcake

This took place shortly after 9am and then began the interminable wait for the events to begin at 10.30. The church began to fill up with local worthies, but there weren’t any obvious Tolkien fans.  There was one chap in the front row, who seemed to hold a faint resemblance to a member of the Tolkien family, but I was assured that this was a local councillor.  Even a mayor turned up in his regalia, and it would be he who would unveil the statue of Tolkien.  Lúthien was to be unveiled by local author Phil Mathison.

Phil Mathison [left] being presented with a copy of the Lúthien silhouette.

What looked like a TV cameraman moved up and down the aisle taking shots of people being offered refreshments, and he would latter film the speeches and the unveiling.

At just before 10.30 the church bells were hushed, and the gathered congregation began to take on an air of expectation.  Initially, a chap who failed to introduce himself, but who was from Visit East Yorkshire, thanked the bell ringers, the church, Allen Stichler -  the artist who worked on the statues, Gareth Sleightholme - who came up with some initial designs, the Roos Parish Council, the Tolkien Society & the Tolkien Estate, the East Riding Council & Phil & Mary Mathison.

Phil Mathison then briefly explained the history of Tolkien’s association with Roos and his early life.  He also outlined the creation of Beren and Lúthien and the inspiration behind these characters.  

You may view this 7- minute talk here: https://youtu.be/1lchGH0eJMk?si=KRPV3nQgciBG9XeU

After the talk the congregation filed outside and congregated at the site of the unveiling to the south of the church car park.  This is where the mayor unveiled the statue of Tolkien, and Phil Mathison unveiled the silhouette of Lúthien.

Before the Unveiling - Shrouded in Black!

Tolkien Almost Unveiled

Statue of Tolkien Looking Towards the Lúthien Silhouette 

The Lúthien Silhouette & Inscription 

The Interpretation Board

The View of the Statues as you approach from the church

Tolkien's Residence in Roos

"A Lonely House Near Roos"?

Why in 1966/7 did Mary Sellars (née Bramham), a Withernsea schoolteacher, give one of her pupils an assignment to write a mock news report on Tolkien’s time living in Roos, East Yorkshire?  Another scholar was given a similar task on another local author - the poet Andrew Marvell.  I’m asking the question because before the publication of Tolkien’s official biography by Humphrey Carpenter in 1977, who knew of Tolkien’s residence in Roos during the Great War?  Were any interviews with Tolkien which mentioned Roos published in his lifetime?  There was at least one, so is it a coincidence that this also appeared around the same time the homework was given out?  Wayne Hammond has kindly drawn my attention to Tolkien's connection with Roos appearing in The Diplomat magazine in 1966, but was this seen by a provincial schoolteacher in East Yorkshire?  [This paragraph was re-edited 21/8/2025, when it was revealed that the homework was given out as late as 1966/7 and not 1964/5, as previously communicated]. 

Why was there a vestigial memory of Tolkien living in Roos 50 years after the event, when in 1917 he was an apparently unremarkable officer?  Was it because he had such a distinctive name and that made a lasting impression on the tightly-knit village for only the few months he was there, but when everyone would know everyone else?  

Tolkien in Uniform

Less than 5 years after the armistice The Yorkshire Post stated: “as is to be expected by the author’s connections with the Oxford English Dictionary, Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Middle English Vocabulary” (Clarendon Press, 4s. 6d. net) is fully abreast with most recent developments in philology and lexicology, and seems eminently suitable for the purpose for which it was designed” (14 June 1922, p.4).  Within a year Tolkien had a poem published in The Microcosm a journal in aid of the Boy Scout Movement. In a review he was described rather inaccurately as one of the “North-country litterateurs” [sic] featured in the periodical”  [The Yorkshire Post, 14 March 1923, (p.4.)].  The following year Tolkien’s role was upgraded from a reader in English to a new professor in the recently established English Department at the University of Leeds.  This was reported in The Yorkshire Post on 31 July 1924. The publication of Tolkien and Gordon’s edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was mentioned on 6 May 1925 (p.4).  Over the next 4 years Tolkien’s burgeoning academic career was referenced several times in this provincial newspaper.  The Yorkshire Post may have been taken by either the Reverend Milsom or the Roos schoolteacher G.W. Wilbraham, or even both.  Is this how the denizens of Roos kept abreast of the career of their erstwhile brief resident?  Tolkien’s name even appeared near the top of the front page of The Yorkshire Post on 28 January 1929 in a public notice for his forthcoming lecture in Leeds on “Celts and Teutons in Early Times”, in which he was described as Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Oxford”.  So, if someone in Roos was following his career they would now be aware that he had progressed to Oxford.  

Over the next couple of decades Tolkien was referred to less frequently in The Yorkshire Post, but he was mentioned prominently, and his connection with both Leeds and Oxford universities were stressed, on the publication of The Hobbit (20 October 1937, p.6).  The Yorkshire Post also reminded its readers of Tolkien’s Leeds University connection when The Fellowship of the Ring was reviewed by Andrew Keir on 10 September 1954 (p.4).  

It would seem that Tolkien’s connection with Roos only appeared once in the public domain during his lifetime.  However, he mentioned it in private letters to his American publishers in 1955, to Christopher Bretherton in 1964, and finally, to his son Christopher in 1972.  These letters were not made public until they were published in book form in 1981.  He also emphasised the importance of Roos in his TV interview recorded in 1968, but this section was not broadcast, and the text was not published until Stuart Lee reconstructed the interview in print as late as 2018 (Tolkien Studies: Volume XV, Morganstown, West Virginia University Press, p.162).  Roos wasn’t even mentioned in Grotta’s unauthorised biography (1976), but neither was Tolkien’s 18-week hospitalisation explicitly assigned to Hull in that volume.  Humphrey Carpenter actually referred to Roos in his 1977 biography, but incorrectly dates the stay in Roos to after Edith gave birth to their eldest child, John, when all the evidence points to the Roos episode belonging to the period before John’s birth in November 1917 (John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War, pp.238-9.)

The reason Mary Sellars knew about Tolkien and Roos in 1966/7 must remain conjectural at this stage, but his career may have been followed by readers of The Yorkshire Post.  So, what did the schoolboy discover?  He interviewed residents of Roos, but of course half a century after Tolkien left it was descendants of people who may have met or knew of Tolkien that had stories to tell.  His best informant was Arthur Robinson, who directed his attention to Mr Cheeseman’s tenure at the Post Office.  Three different residences of where the Tolkien may have lived had left traces, which were still remembered in 1964.

Roos Post Office in its 1917 position

The three addresses are: A room above the Post Office at the time, the house next door to the Post Office, and the Old Rectory (also known as Roos Hall in 1917).  Phil Mathison considers most of the candidates for the sites of Tolkien's lodging houses, but his book does not mention Roos Hall and when he discusses the Rectory, it is the 1893 building which is considered (Phil Mathison, Tolkien in East Yorkshire, 2012).

The same building as it looked on 11 February 2020

In 2020 the Post Office is on the north-east edge of the village at 3-5 Main Road, but this was not the case during the First World War.  At that time the Post Office was on the corner of Main Road and Ellerby Lane (now Hodgson’s Lane), which places it more centrally within the village.  The Post Office was opposite to the Black Horse Public House, which would have appealed to the bibulous Tolkien.  In 1917 the Post Office was run by a Mr Cheeseman, and it was his son, Gordon who informed the Withernsea schoolboy that Tolkien had lodged there during the Great War.  Even if Tolkien did not lodge above the Post Office or in the adjacent building there is no doubt that Tolkien would have made use of one of the most important buildings in this small community.                                                           

The 1917 Post Office and the adjoining house (another candidate for Tolkien's lodgings) as they look today

Tolkien did not write in detail about the precise addresss of any property in Roos.  However, on the manuscript of "The Horns of Ulmo" he wrote that it was "rewritten in a lonely house near Roos" (Shaping of Middle-earth, p.215).  This wouldn't be an apt description for either, the rooms above the Post Office, or the building next door, but it would be more fitting for the Old rectory/Roos Hall, which was on the southern edge of the village not too far from the "hemlock glade" in Dents Garth.  

This picture may be found in the baptistry of Roos Church

The Old Rectory or Roos Hall burned down on 8 September 1937, when it was described as a 40-roomed mansion owned by the Dickinson family.  Some of its 18 bedrooms were let out in the 1930s to various people, and it is possible the same occurred during 1917 when the Tolkiens may have had lodgings there.  A press report at the time of the fire mentions the caretaker checking the  “unoccupied part of the hall”, and if the situation was similar in 1917 this would help explain why Tolkien described it as a “lonely house.”  This building was on the east side of Rectory Road - the same side as All Saints Church - and was very close to the northern limit of Dents Garth.  The remains of Roos Hall were demolished and another house constructed on the site.  As of 2025 the replacement building has also been demolished, and another building is nearing completion.  The site of Old Roos Hall/Old Rectory would have been almost opposite the entrance to Elm Tree Farm, which still exists.  [This paragraph was re-edited 30/8/2025 on new information being received on the position of Roos Hall].

 Roos Hall on Fire - Hull Daily Mail 9 September 1937

My Roos correspondent informs me that a path from the hall led directly to nearby Dents Garth where there was a school.  Also, there was a track across the paddock to the bridge over the beck and through the woodland to the gates into the churchyard which were not far from the vestry door under the ‘watchtower’. Of course in May and June 1917 when the Tolkiens are believed to have been residing in Roos, these paths would have been lined with the attractive and ethereal Cow Parsley.  Edith is believed to have danced and sang among the Cow Parsley  or “hemlocks”, as Tolkien referred to them, in the woodland of Dents Garth. 

"Hemlocks" in Roos Churchyard

The 1893 Rectory as of February 2020

In 1917 there was another Rectory in Roos.  In the late-Nineteenth-century Roos Hall or the Old Rectory with its 40 rooms, including 18 bedrooms was considered too grand to be a rectory, so a new one was built nearly a quarter of a mile to the north-west.  This "was built 1892-3 in a Queen Anne style to designs by Temple Moore" (Victoria County History).  In 1964 this was an old rectory, but was less than 2 decades old when Tolkien was in Roos, so would have appeared to be fairly new.  This is another possible candidate for Tolkien's "lonely house", as it is a detached property on the western edge of the village with bare fields for miles to the west, and no habitations immediately adjacent to it.

The 1893 Rectory and out buildings in February 2020

 Today this is known as the Old Rectory, as a new one replaced it in 1968

When Roos Hall was burning, care was taken that the fire didn’t spread to nearby All Saints’ Church.  At the time Tolkien was in the village the rector was the Reverend Edward Milsom, and he remained in that position until 1921.  Under Milsom’s stewardship Roos Church was considered as very “High”, and the Lady Chapel, which is still present would have appealed to someone of Tolkien’s catholic faith.  It is believed Tolkien would have been welcome as a Catholic in a high Anglican atmosphere.  Edith, as a rather reluctant convert to Catholicism may have found the high Church of England atmosphere more congenial, especially compared with the converted cinema used for Catholic worship in Withernsea, which she was to endure later when she lived for several weeks in the seaside town.

Snowdrops around Roos Church in 2020

Although we are no nearer knowing precisely where Tolkien resided in Roos, I trust that the original pictures of the Post Office in his time and of Roos Hall, a truly lonely house, help interested parties visualise the kind of places Tolkien would have seen and known.  The modern photos show Roos as it is today.  

Pictures of the interior of the church and the vegetation in Dents Garth may be viewed here

Inaugural East Yorkshire Tolkien Tour

After a very grey week the Saturday planned for the inaugural East Yorkshire Tolkien Tour dawned a little brighter and more promising than almost any day for the past week.

[All photos not attributed are (c) 2016 Michael Flowers]

Kingston-upon-Hull

Cow Parsley in the churchyard, Roos - 23 May 2016

I woke at 5.05 without an alarm, and got ready for the day ahead slowly and deliberately.  I set off just after 8.30 am and picked up London-based veteran Jessica outside her hotel.  She informed me she had spent a small fortune on her hotel and train fares, so I thought the ensuing tour had better be good! 

Front of Dennison Centre, formerly Brooklands Officers' Hospital (2014)

Originally, more than 20 people provisionally booked on the day last October, but by the 1st of April many of these had fallen by the wayside.  However, 10 brave souls were still prepared to turn up. 

Western Exterior - 17 officers including Tolkien were hospitalised on the interior on this side of the building

We reached the Humber Bridge Country Park just before 9am, but it wasn't too long before the others arrived. Catherine was probably the first, followed by Elena and Matthew, then Dan and Mary, and Tony and Jenny - who had to actually cross the Humber Bridge to get to us! The sun came out and Dan realised he would need protection from the sun, so he and Mary popped back to their hotel to retrieve it. The others got into their respective cars, and I picked up Mary and Dan outside their hotel. 

South facing exterior - left side contained recuperating officers 

We took the road up towards Cottingham, and followed the signs to the university. Andrew and Sarah were waiting patiently at the University entrance, and I signalled them to join us at the Dennison Centre. This was the site of the Brooklands Officers' Hospital where Tolkien spent almost 22 weeks over two summers in 1917 and 1918. It is an important location for people interested in Tolkien because it was here where the building blocks of his imaginary languages and mythology really began to take shape - the earliest versions of 'The Tale of Tinúviel' and 'The Tale of Turumbar' were written, which are absolutely essential elements of what much later became The Silmarillion.  

Tolkien Plaque on Dennison Centre, Hull

The participants photographed the Tolkien plaque on the right-hand side of the building. It is sited there because it was only the west side of the building which formed part of the hospital. We compared the 1910 Ordnance Survey map with the surviving structure, and noted that the conservatory we could see appeared to be present as early as 1910. We had a look at the trees and realised that the only two which would have been there in Tolkien's time were the mature Oak and the large Cedar tree - both technically in the adjoining property. Before we left we listened to a BBC archive programme featuring Phil Mathison and Dr Rosemary Wall, explaining about the site. You may listen to this programme here:

1910 Ordnance Survey Map showing Brooklands

Hornsea

View of Hornsea Mere, approaching from the south

The next substantial Tolkien location is in Hornsea, so the intention was to drive towards the coast in convoy. Unfortunately, most of the city seemed to be migrating to Wembley, so we soon got separated in the heavier than normal traffic. However, we were able to keep in touch by walkie talkies. The first two cars followed the road into Hornsea nearest the old railway Tolkien would have used, to enjoy the majestic entrance to the attractive town,which also shows Hornsea Mere to best effect on our left, as the road drops towards sea level. The final car was separated from the other two by interfering traffic, so Matthew guided them round the longer wooded route, which sticks much closer to the mere. We left our cars in the Tesco car park whilst provisions were purchased and comfort breaks taken, and we then made the short walk to Station Terrace. Number one is where Edith and her cousin Jennie Grove lodged for a month while Tolkien was based at Hornsea Musketry Camp at nearby Rolston. Many participants took photos of the erroneous blue plaque.

Hornsea Plaque containing at least 2 errors

From Hornsea we began the 30-minute drive to what promised to be the highlight of the trip - a visit to Roos. On the way we passed the site of the musketry camp, but only one building exists which may have been there in Tolkien's time. Unfortunately, many of the buildings which survived as late as the turn of the millennium were finally demolished to make way for some classy holiday homes. On the journey I pointed out any notable landmarks, which included Admiral Storr's Tower at Hilston and Turmar Farm. Eventually, we arrived at Roos, and drove along the edge of the village until we arrived at the church on the far southern side. 

Roos

All Saints' Church, Roos - almost obscured by tall umbels 

(c) 2016 Elena Davison

Interior of Roos Church (c) 2016 Andrew Wells

Unusually, the church was open, so this became our first port of call. We were confronted by some rather extravagantly painted images of religious figures, which seemed eminently suitable for a Roman Catholic Church, rather than the Anglican edifice we were in. The organ seemed amazingly bright, but this had only been restored within the past few weeks. Tony was attracted by some calligraphy in the vestry which listed some of the incumbents of the Parish. This included the use of the ancient family name of Ros, who I believe also maintained property in Helmsley shortly after the Norman Conquest. Catherine made sure we left our mark in the church visitor's book. 

Incumbents of All Saints', Roos (c) 2016 Tony Curtis
'The Problem of Ros'

After the church we walked along the back of Dents Garth. Some of the trees had only just taken on their mantle of fresh green hue after a prolonged, slow, cold spring. However, this also meant that the Cow Parsley, which is usually pretty much past its best by the end of May, was actually at its absolute white frothy perfection. More photographs were taken, and then we ventured inside, following a fairly muddy path to the centre of the small woodland. There is now no actual glade to be seen, but we came to a natural halt in a slightly more open area. The elms which would have been present 99 years ago have largely been replaced by non-native sycamores. Other elements not found in Tolkien included the noisy cawing Rookery and the relatively subtle scent of the Ramsoms, or Wild Garlic. At this point an elderly participant, who seemed to imbue his rendition with real insight read from 'The Song of Beren and Lúthien', which was the most poignant moment of the whole trip. As he intoned the verses he was accompanied by the natural sounds of a Blackcap, and a Song Thrush among other more distant songsters. Then to make the atmosphere even more appropriate Andrew played a short excerpt from the song of the Nightingale on his phone. 

Cow Parsley in Dents Garth (c) 2016 Catherine Thorn

 Cow Parsley in Roos Churchyard

White froth of Cow Parsley under the trees

 Cow Parsley along eastern edge of Dents Garth

 Heraldic Shield of Sykes Family (c) 2016 Elena Davison

On the edge of the church we stopped off at the iron bars and the stairs leading down to the crypt.  At this point I mentioned Beren's symbol which included a hand, and contrasted this with the hand on the Sykes family's heraldic crest.  On the way back we had a look at the three-trunked linden-tree, which was only just bursting into leaf.  We then regrouped to the parking area, and enjoyed our packed lunch on the church wall with the Cow Parsley foaming over the wall behind us.  Just before we left I revealed the hidden Roos Beck, and mentioned the word meaning of Tolkien's Esgalduin, the river in Doriath close to where Beren and Lúthien met in his mythology. 

Three-trunked Linden-tree (Lime) in Roos Churchyard

The hidden Roos Beck

An "awfully treeish" Victorian Gravestone (c) 2016 Elena Davison

Unfortunately, we were running slightly behind schedule, so the visit to Halsham was cancelled.  This was quite a speculative tentative link anyway, but I still mentioned Charles Noad's theory about the mausoleum and Sauron's temple on Numenor.  I believe there are sound reasons Tolkien would have visited this nearby village, but that is explained in another blogpost.

Thirtle Bridge
Mona House, former officers' Mess, Thirtle Bridge

We then drove for less than 10 minutes to the new parking area, created for the lorries carrying the turbine blades.  On the way we passed the site of Tunstall Hall the former HQ of Tolkien's regiment, but didn't dusturb the privacy of the holidaymaker's in the Sand-Le-Mere camp.  At Thirtle Bridge, we could see the site of the Officers' Mess of the former camp now transformed into the more luxurious and extensive Mona House.  We passed the former Cookhouse as we drove towards Withernsea.  On the way we passed the remains of the former tall Black Mill, which 99 years ago marked the scene of a major checkpoint, and a fortified structure with guns searching the skies for incoming zeppelins.  At the apex of the road it was possible to see the Black structure of the mill and the white tower of the lighthouse in the same view.

Barn using the same footprint as the former Cook House

The Black Mill as it looked at its full height

 The greensward behind Withernsea Lighthouse

Withernsea

Only a few minutes later we arrived in Withernsea, and went straight to the Lighthouse museum. I was the first "return ticket" the doorward had accepted so far this year. A few of us ascended the 274 steps, whilst others repaired to the greensward with their refreshing cup of tea and cakes. Others went round the exhibits first, before relaxing on the lawn.

Interior of Withernsea Lighthouse (c) 2016 Tony Curtis

From the lighthouse we walked to the mini roundabout on Queen Street, and gathered adjacent to my old place of work in the mid-to-late-80s. Here, Edith's old lodgings shown in an old postcard photograph were compared with what we could see of this basic footprint in today's Lifeboat cafe. Finally for Withernsea, we headed to the pier castles and down on to the beach, where Edith and Ronald (painfully thin) were photographed by his understudy Huxtable in July 1917.

Edith's lodgings were in second bay window from left of J. Westerdale

Edith's Withersea Lodgings (left) as it looked in 2014

Withernsea 'castles' marking the site of the pier

Easington

From Withernsea we drove via Patrington through Easington where Tolkien had lived in a lonely farmhouse and worked on some poems in the winter of 1917/1918. As we left Easington I pointed out the Tower, which was owned by Robert Walker nearly a century ago. He was a major landowner in the area, and may have leased one of his farm properties to the Tolkien family, but so far no definitive proof has been forthcoming. 

The Tower, Easington

Kilnsea

On the road to Kilnsea the back of the acoustic sound mirror was glimpsed, and the role of this during WW1 was explained.  Finally, we arrived at the car park at the rear of the Blue Bell.  The tide was quite far out, so it was just possible to see the former sea wall peeping through the incoming waves.  A comparison with how the site looked in 1964 and how it looks now was made - with a great deal of the former Godwin Battery now lying on the beach.  We even walked on the precarious crumbling cliffs of boulder clay to take a closer look at some of the concrete debris scattered on the sand below us.

Gun Emplacement from the Former Godwin Battery 

(c) 2016 Andrew Wells

A new map of Spurn on an interpretation board provided by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust allowed me the opportunity of explaining how Spurn may just possibly have been visited by the future professor.  The plaques on the wall of the Blue Bell (former pub, but now a cafe) were a fine illustration of the destructive power of the North Sea on this vulnerable East Yorkshire coast.  We then, rather Hobbit-like, enjoyed our third lot of refreshments in as many hours by partaking of mainly strawberry ice cream tubs at the cafe.  Whilst Mary and Dan enjoyed another unhurried cup of tea on a bench outside, and Jessica stayed behind to chat, the rest of us trouped a few hundred yards to the sign of the Golden Sands Caravan Park.  This marks the site of the former hospital in which Tolkien is believed to have received treatment during the winter of 1917/18.  This rather  banal anticlimactic moment marked the end of the tour, as everyone returned to their cars for the car sharing back to the various meeting points.

The Godwin Battery Hospital was behind the Golden Beaches sign

I would like to thank all the attendees for their interest, and  the various contributions they all made which added to the success of this long-expected excursion.  Will there ever be a sequel?