A demolition worker has made a stunning and possible life changing discovery. The worker could not believe it when he discovered a postcard sent to author JRR Tolkien's wife. Stephen Malton, who runs Prodem Demolition in Bournemouth, was removing the fixtures from the author's former home in Poole, Dorset, before the property was demolished, reports the UK Guardian.

A Book by Author JRR Tolkien

According to press reports from Europe, Malton, 42, who owns a Bournemouth based business called ProDem Demolition, and said of the surprising discovery, "You could have knocked me down with a feather. "To find something with the Tolkien name on it is quite amazing," he told BBC News.


Malton said he was hoping to sell the fireplace, postcard, a bronze fairy and stone gryphon which were found in the garden, at auction at a later date, but still could not believe his luck. He said research on the internet suggested that the carved wooden fireplace with marble inlay, a feature of the house when Tolkien lived there from 1968 to 1972, was already worth up to $250,000.

To tie in both the fireplace and the postcard, we are talking about a price of around $500,000 for the combined pair," the 42-year-old said. Should he be able to sell it?