A FUNDRAISING campaign to buy JRR Tolkien's former home in Oxford has failed.

Number 20 Northmoor Road in North Oxford was put on the market in October with a guide price of £4,575,000. 

It is marked on Google Maps as a 'historical landmark' and is where Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and some of the Lord of the Rings.

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Campaign Project Northmoor launched in December to raise money to buy the house and turn it into 'the first literary centre in the world dedicated to Tolkien', but it needed £4.5m to do so.

Backed by Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen, who played Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf in adaptations of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the campaign has now announced that it was not able to 'find a route to fund the purchase of the house before the vendor chose another party'.

A statement on the Project Northmoor website continued: "We are sorry we couldn't get there faster but we gave it our all. We've been entirely staffed by volunteers so thank you to everyone who helped run the campaign."

It had raised 17 per cent of the $6m it needed, or $1.02m. 

The charity hopes to set up a literary centre elsewhere in Oxford instead and according to the Guardian says it has already been offered an 'alternative home … in a very suitable venue in the heart of Oxford' for this centre.

ALSO READ: Sir Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman back £4.5m crowdfunding to buy Tolkien's house for museum

It would offer 'in-person courses and a base for tours visiting the locations that inspired Tolkien'.

Those who donated through PayPal or JustGiving will be able to choose whether they want to fund 'the work of the centre' or ask for their donation to be returned.

Money given by those who donated through the Christian fundraising platforms Stewardship in the UK and The Signatry in the US 'has to be used for a charitable purpose and so we will be writing to those donors with more options'.

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