She’s had a hand in Mordor, The Misty Mountains and a place where it’s always winter, but never Christmas.

But while JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis introduced countless readers to the worlds of Middle Earth and Narnia, Pauline Baynes gave them a timeless face.

Last Friday in Farnham town centre, around three dozen people were drawn to South Street to remember one of the most important illustrators to ever put pen to paper.

She is the latest addition to the Notable Names of Farnham – a wall that remembers and recognises the town’s great and good, from the original social influencer William Cobbett to the sporting heroes like Graham Thorpe and Jonny Wilkinson.

If you’ve read Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit or The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, then you will be familiar with Pauline’s work.

Indeed, her incredibly detailed maps and images of the worlds and characters in those novels are indented in our collective memories, either through the books we read or the BBC or Hollywood adaptations of the Lewis and Tolkien masterpieces.

Pauline spent most of her life in the Farnham area and studied at the future UCA, but her wartime spell at the Camouflage Development and Training Centre in Farnham Castle played an equally pivotal part in her incredible career.

She secured some professional commissions after following up contacts she made during her time at the Castle, with samples of her work coming to the attention of Tolkien during the 1940s.

The breakthrough came in 1949 when she produced illustrations for his Farmer Giles of Ham publication, before she became more immersed in his incredible back catalogue. Their friendship – which latest until his death in 1973 – also led the author to introduce Pauline to CS Lewis and a job illustrating the Narnia Chronicles.

Pauline moved to Dockenfield around 1960 and was visited by salesman Fritz Otto Gasch – a German who remained in Britain after being held as a Prisoner of War – not long after moving in. The pair became soulmates and quickly married, remaining inseparable until Fritz’s death in 1988.

Fritz’s daughter, Karin, had married an Italian called Alberto Ceccatelli while working in Italy and the pair finally tracked him down to Farnham, albeit after Gasch’s death, thanks to the fall of the Berlin Wall and opening up of the Eastern Bloc.

Karin and Alberto developed a close family relationship with Pauline and when she died with no surviving children, her private collection passed into their hands and remains under their ownership until this day.

Alberto brought part of the collection to Farnham last September as part of the Heritage Open Days programme after making contact with the Museum the previous year.

He returned last week to Farnham for the unveiling along with a few family members with the ceremony also attracting dignitaries and Dockenfield residents who were close friends and neighbours of Pauline.

Farnham Town Mayor, Cllr Brodie Mauluka, thanked the crowd for coming together and celebrating the life and special achievements of Pauline.

The plaque unveiled in Pauline’s honour is the 33nd to grace the “Notable Names of Farnham” wall, with the event coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham which featured Pauline’s illustrations.

The unveiling on South Street was followed by a reception at the town hall where Cllr Mauluka spoke along with Alberto and Pauline’s closest living relatives.

The reception included a selection of Pauline’s illustrations and artwork, from Tolkien behemoths to lesser-known novels, and an original plate showing the tiny scale at which she drew the masterpieces.

Cllr Mauluka said: “I know that many of you here today at from Dockenfield where Pauline lived many happy years and lived with her late husband, Fritz, while working on illustrations and projects.

“I know that many of you have wonderful memories of Pauline.

“I think one of the best tributes to Pauline is that Tolkien is reported to have said that her pictures have succeeded in reducing his text to a ‘commentary on the drawings’.

“Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite films of all time, and because of today and I’m going to have a good look at the artwork here, myself.”

David Ashcroft, of East Hampshire District Council, knew Pauline was as she was his mother-in-law’s sister. He told the reception the pair were both “incredibly gifted artists” but Pauline made her living by illustrating books.

He said: “Often kids look at the pictures, and don’t read the words.

“Lord of the Rings properly galvanised people’s imagination through its pictures. So Pauline’s legacy, in some ways, is encouraging kids through illustrations to look at the words. 

“And I think that’s where illustrators deserve such a lot of accolade because they have created that mindset in children.

Pauline’s nephew, Richard Ashcroft, called her an “absolute genius” who was “absolutely useless with people at times.”

He added: “We had our moments when we clashed but there were times where we had our moments and it was great.

“She was also arguably, to a fault, one of the most generous people you would ever meet and If she could help someone out, she would.

“She was an absolute heart of gold, but to a fault, at times.”

He added: “Fritz was her soulmate. It was a lovely love they had together.

“Pauline was a wonderful individual and I’m so pleased she’s now got some recognition. She is one of the most underrated illustrators of the 20th century.

“When you look at some of the big film franchises, a lot of what you see on those screens that imagery would have come, not only from those amazing written words, but those illustrations of different characters in those books.

“I think there should be a lot more recognition of not just Pauline, but a lot of illustrators. They bring these individuals like Gollum, to life, much like Pauline did.”

And Alberto, with the hand of a translator, also brought smiles with his memories of the late illustrator and the relationship she had with his family.

He said: “We had 15 years of deep feeling with Pauline.

“This was really special, possibly because Pauline was a special person. She was a character.

“We had around 100 letters that were exchanged within 15 years. We treasured the time spent together.”

Pauline passed away in August 2008 while her achievements include the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration and 600 illustrations for Grant Uden’s A dictionary of Chivalry, of which she was especially proud.

But the writing is now on the wall – and her place in the pantheon of Farnham’s greats is now confirmed.

And in paraphrasing Aslan the Lion and the bid to add her name for Farnham’s notable sons and daughters: It is finished.