Puzzlewood: the millenary forest that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling

@ElentirENG ES 11·03·2022 · 23:46 0

The UK is a country known for having some truly magical looking places. One of them is a very old place.

Through tunnels, ruins, bridges and cliffs: route in the spectacular Buitreras Canyon
The curious history of an abandoned railway caboose in the middle of a forest

Puzzlewood is a place whose history goes back thousands of years in the past, to the Iron Age, when the inhabitants of the area extracted this metal from the caves of that place. The caves ended up being left open to the sky, and the forest that grew above them ended up offering the strange and magical aspect that this place has, located in the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire, England (photo by Neil Barnwell).

In 1848, ancient Roman coins were found there, stored in three clay jars, a surprising archaeological find worthy of inspiring the most varied legends about ancient hidden treasures (photo from Zoltan Tasi).

One of the most famous visitors to Puzzlewood was the British writer J.R.R. Tolkien, and it is believed that this place served as inspiration for locations in his work "The Lord of the Rings" such as the elven kingdom of Lothlórien, Mirkwood and the Old Forest. One of the most picturesque features of Puzzlewood are the pathways built in the early 19th century to provide access to the site, and they certainly evoke the look of Lady Galadriel's domain (photo by Carl Newton).

Another person who visited this place was the famous British writer J.K. Rowling before writing her famous Harry Potter works. In fact, it is believed that Puzzlewood was the inspiration for the Forbidden Forest that appears in those books, and that it is inhabited by fantastic beings (photo by Tom Wheatley).

Perhaps due to this influence, Puzzlewood served as the setting for the filming of some scenes from the first part of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", a film released in 2010 and the penultimate in the saga of the young wizard (photo by Zoltan Tasi).

In addition to that movie, Puzzlewood also served as the setting for Star Wars Episode VII (2015), "Jack the Giant Slayer" (2013) and other fantasy-themed movies and TV series (photo by Zoltan Tasi).

It must be said that access to this site is limited and you have to pay an entrance fee to visit it . This is what it means to keep a place like this intact. You can check prices and visit dates at Puzzlewood official website (photo by Andy Dingley).

Below these lines you can see a video of Squashed Robot showing this magical place: