Those of you who are fans of J.R.R. Tolkein and his work may recognize some of the images below from the Lord of the Rings films and most recently, The Hobbit. Tolkien grew up in rural Western England around the turn of the last century, and his writings were heavily influenced by the romantic prose and poetry of William Morris, considered by many to be the pioneer of the Arts & Crafts Movement in England. As a result, Tolkien took many of his stylistic cues from the archictecture of the Movement as well as Medieval England when envisioning the castles, villages, and homes of his characters in these epic tales.
When filmmaker Peter Jackson set out to re-create the settings of Middle-Earth for the feature films, he naturally chose his native homeland of New Zealand as the backdrop to bring these books to life on the big screen. In 2008, my wife and I spent a month traveling all over New Zealand for our honeymoon, and I can definitely say that it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
Parts of the story take place in the fictitious village of Hobbiton, in The Shire, which was built as a set for the films near the New Zealand town of Matamata. The production designers went to great lengths to create an authentic-looking arts & crafts/medieval village with dozens of tiny cottages complete with thatched roofs, many of which were built into the surrounding rolling hills. Below is a short video tour of Hobbiton that shows some of the elaborate Hobbit homes used in the movie…
When filming for the Lord of the Rings trilogy was complete, some of the Hobbiton sets were dismantled, while others remained intact and were opened to the public for tours. Following the huge worldwide success of the trilogy, tourism to New Zealand boomed – especially around the 150+ sites throughout the country that were used as filming locations in the movies.
Coinciding with the December release of An Unexpected Journey (the first new movie in The Hobbit trilogy) and a renewed interest in all things Hobbit, The Green Dragon Pub (which was featured in both trilogies) has now been opened to the public and included on local tours of Hobbiton. In the image above, New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, speaks at the pub’s grand opening with several actors who portrayed various Hobbits in the film.
The interior of the pub looks like what you might expect – lots of exposed wood beams, stone floors, warm cozy lighting, and hand-carved trimwork.
The taps behind the bar pour a variety of traditional ales.
If you go back and watch the trilogy, you’ll remember the scene below…
This hand-carved green dragon (below) can be found above one of the bars.
Unfortunately, when we were in New Zealand, we weren’t able to tour Hobbiton firsthand, but when we go back, we’ll be sure to not miss it.
The images featured in this article came from the Friends of Hobbiton facebook page. For more information about tours, click here.
