Hobbiton Movie Set

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The Hobbiton Movie Set is a film location on a family-run farm near Matamata in the Waikato region of New Zealand. It was used as the Shire's village of Hobbiton in both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. Today it is a popular tourist site with guided tours, and about 44 hobbit holes can be seen there.

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At a glance

Country: New Zealand
Location: Matamata, New Zealand
Built: 2011

Quick answers

Where is Hobbiton Movie Set?

Hobbiton Movie Set is in Matamata, New Zealand.

When was Hobbiton Movie Set built?

Hobbiton Movie Set was built in 2011.

The film set of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, with hobbit holes built into green hills.

Director Peter Jackson first spotted the farm in 1998 during an aerial search and thought it looked like a slice of ancient England.

Building the Shire

Work began in March 1999. The New Zealand Army built 1.5 kilometres of road into the site, and crews built fronts for 37 hobbit holes with gardens and hedges, a mill, a double-arch bridge and a 26-tonne oak tree above Bag End. The oak was cut near Matamata and rebuilt on the site with artificial leaves. Thatch for the pub and mill roofs came from rushes on the farm. The set was first made to be removed, but heavy rain stopped the clean-up and the farm family struck a deal to keep it.

Visiting today

The set was rebuilt more permanently in 2010 for The Hobbit films. Tours of the 5.5-hectare site began in 2002 and still run daily, visiting Bagshot Row, the Party Tree and Bilbo's Bag End. Hobbit holes are built to three different sizes to make actors look bigger or smaller. A working Green Dragon Inn opened in 2012.