Vestiges of Antiquity among the Hobbits

The ruins in the lands of the Hobbits show that these regions had another life. The Great Eastern Road and the mounds of Tyrn Gorthad are testimonies of an Antiquity and an History, like the remains of ancient history that dot the English countryside. They give historical depth to the story, and weave links between the lands of the Hobbits and their model, the idealized rural England.