Bag End at Hobbiton

Of the 44 hobbit holes on the Hobbiton Movie Set in Matamata, this is by far the most iconic. Peter Jackson said “It felt as if you could open the circular green door of Bag End and find Bilbo Baggins inside.” It certainly feels that way as we went past on the tour. Sadly you can’t go inside Bag End or even get your photo taken sat on Bilbo’s seat. The huge oak tree towering over Bag End is fake. Made from fibreglass. It weighs 26 tonnes and has 200,000 artificial silk leaves that were imported from Taiwan. Director Peter Jackson thought the shade of leaves wasn’t right and so had them all repainted by hand. It took 15 hours of work per day for 10 continuous days, all for a prop that was only on screen for 10 seconds!