“Long ago Gorhendad Oldbuck had crossed the river, which was the original boundary of the land eastwards. He built (and excavated) Brandy Hall, changed his name to Brandybuck, and settled down.... His family grew and grew..., until Brandy Hall occupied the whole of the low hill.... “ -LotR B.1 Ch.5

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This is ArdaCraft's recreation of Buckland, the strip of land just outside the Shire that lay between the Brandywine and Old Forest. It was the home of the Brandybucks, Merry's family.

740 years after the founding of the Shire, in T.A. 2340, Gorhendad Oldbuck crossed the River Brandywine from the Eastfarthing and started the building of Brandy Hall in Buck Hill, in a land so far unpopulated by hobbits. The village of Bucklebury, lying close by Buck Hill, was Buckland's chief village, but with the expanding population, many other villages soon grew up in the region, the largest of which were Newbury, Crickhollow and Standelf. The growing power of the Master of Buckland gained respect from those close by in the Eastfarthing too; the lands of the Marish between Stock and Rushey also acknowledged themselves under the sway of Brandy Hall.

Buckland was also the childhood home of Frodo Baggins, who returned here on his journey to Bree in T.A. 3018.

The Bucklanders enjoyed boating, an activity frowned upon by Shire-hobbits, and some of them could even swim. Due to the often muddy nature of the land near the river, it was not uncommon for Bucklanders to wear boots, making them the only Hobbits known to wear shoes. Living under constant danger from the Old Forest, the Bucklanders were hardier and more suspicious than the usual Shire-hobbit.

Buckland forms part of a larger project which seeks to recreate Middle-earth in its entirety. Credit goes to the entire community of builders for helping out.

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Buckland can be viewed from above on ArdaCraft's dynmap. There is no download avaliable, but ArdaCraft is a non whitelisted server which anyone is welcome to come and explore, provided they have installed our modpack first.

All information can be found on our website at http://ardacraft.me/