An original letter by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien has raised nearly £5,000 for a hospice which was set up in Bath.

Dorothy House Hospice Care raised around £4,800 in proceeds from the auction of an original letter by author, JRR Tolkien at Bonhams in London.

The letter was generously donated to the Hospice by a local academic and Professor of Chemistry, Chick Wilson, who lectures at the University of Bath.

Previously unpublished, the letter written in 1961 is unique as it gives the first known confirmation that Tolkien had no plans to write a sequel to The Lord of The Rings.

The ‘hammer’ price of the letter went above its valuation of £2-3K and raised the equivalent funding for five days of nursing care for one patient bed on the hospice’s inpatient unit.

(Image: Dorothy House)

Last November, Professor Wilson was prompted to donate his treasured Tolkien letter following a Science-themed Bake Off organised by students in the Chemistry Department to raise money for Dorothy House.

The winning cake featured Bag End house from Tolkien’s famous books The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

The hospice has become the adopted charity of the department due to its support of Professor Grant Buchanan, a previous head of department, and in memory of Mark Russell, a much-loved staff member at the university who was cared for by Dorothy House.

Professor Wilson received the framed letter over 20 years ago as a gift from a colleague at the University of Glasgow, professor Chris Gilmore.

Mr Gilmore received the original letter from JRR Tolkien in July 1961 in response to a fan letter he had written as a young boy.

(Image: Dorothy House)

The donated letter contains a striking revelation from Tolkien who wrote: "I shall not write a sequel to the Lord of the Rings because, as is clearly stated in the course of the story, it is the end of the kind of world about which I write."

Dorothy House provides compassionate and free, palliative and end of life care for people with a life-limiting illness from early diagnosis onwards.

The hospice cares for patients, their families and carers across 700 square miles, serving a population of 550,000 people in Bath and North East Somerset, Wiltshire and Somerset.

Providing hospice services requires significant funds and for every £1 received from the NHS, Dorothy House has to raise a further £4.

Yvonne Brunton, community fundraiser at Dorothy House Hospice Care, said: "We are so grateful to Professor Wilson and the department of chemistry students for all their fundraising for the Hospice.

(Image: Dorothy House)

"The donation of the Tolkien letter is the icing on the cake as it has raised almost £5k to support vital patient care.

"If your family has an interesting antique or item of value to spare, please consider donating it to Dorothy House for us to auction.

"Every donation helps us deliver more palliative and end of life care in the community.”

Chick Wilson, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Bath, said: "I’m thrilled the letter has raised such a significant sum and delighted that I was able to donate it to Dorothy House.

"Tolkien’s letter was too precious to hang on the wall for fear it would fade, so inspired by the winning ‘Bag End’ cake in our bake sale I decided it should go to someone who would appreciate it while also raising funds to support our outstanding local Hospice.”

Matthew Haley, head of books and manuscripts at Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, said: "We’re very pleased to have sold this letter on behalf of such a worthwhile cause.

"This letter appears to be the only time that Tolkien categorically stated that there would be no sequel to The Lord of the Rings so it is a significant find.

"We are delighted that it reached such a high hammer price for the charity."

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