News Release 22nd September 2026
TOLKIEN MEMORIAL
Westminster Abbey to honour J.R.R. Tolkien
New artwork inspired by Tree of Amalion for Poets’ Corner
J.R.R. Tolkien, writer, artist, scholar and linguist is to be honoured in Westminster Abbey in Poets’ Corner alongside his close friend and fellow writer, C.S. Lewis. A major new memorial celebrating Tolkien’s creative vision and storytelling by artist Stephen Broadbent will be revealed at a dedication ceremony in Spring 2027, which is also the 90th anniversary year of The Hobbit and 50th anniversary of The Silmarillion.
The new memorial has been inspired by Tolkien’s Tree of Tales, which he called the Tree of Amalion. Featuring the imagery of a tree in a forest as its central theme, it will be a significant new artwork for the Abbey, inlaid vertically within a stone pillar in the south transept and rising 2.5 metres high.
Predominantly made from native woods found in the UK, it will include a piece of the iconic black pine, known as ‘Tolkien’s tree’, which was felled from Oxford University’s Botanic Garden in 2014. The tree, a Pinus nigra, was a favourite of Tolkien during his time in Oxford.
Broadbent studio in Chester, led by Stephen Broadbent, who has a 40-year background in public art projects, secured the commission following a competitive process. The final design concept was informed by discussions with Tolkien scholars and experts and consultation with the Tolkien Estate.
Beyond the choice of imagery there will also be a Tolkienian ethos about the making of the work, which will use the finest British craftsmanship. It will be made by a team of designers, engineers and artisans from Silverlining Furniture in Wrexham.
The idea of the memorial was first put forward by Lord Alton as Chairman of the Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst and made possible through the support and generosity of the Tolkien Estate.
Stephen Broadbent with a working model of the memorial
“It has been a delight and honour to firstly imagine and then develop a memorial for Westminster Abbey that commemorates Tolkien’s literary enterprise and creative imagination. The artwork will present to the viewer the sense of peering into another world: a ‘Forest of Stories’, with Tolkien’s remarkable ‘Tree of Tales’ accepted into the heart of it. Then through this magical forest there is an evocative glimpse to a land beyond.”
“Given Tolkien’s love of trees and craftsmanship, it is especially gratifying that the Abbey and the Tolkien Estate’s vision for the memorial, together with Stephen’s richly evocative design, will be brought to life using locally sourced timbers and a blend of traditional and innovative British craftsmanship, creating a work that visitors to the Abbey can admire and appreciate for generations to come.”
Stephen Broadbent with a working model of the memorial
The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle said:
“I am delighted both that there will be a memorial to JRR Tolkien in the Abbey and that the memorial will be a thing of beauty. The Hobbit was read to me when I was a boy; when I was a little older, I read The Lord of the Rings, and then I read it again. We will remember here a master storyteller, a scholar, a man with a Christian imagination and a writer who helped some of us understand that a commitment to life and virtue might be costly and courageous.”