wellinghall | Tolkien slept here

"The great Mongol hordes were an inspiration to JRR Tolkien, who was writing his whimsical series of novels at the same time as Lamb was working on this. His Lord of the Rings was in fact a rosy pastiche based fancifully on the very times that Ghengis and his hordes conquered Europe as far as Poland. Inasmuch as you can line up historical facts with Tolkein's fairy world, you might say that the orcs are generally the Mongols and Muslims invading from the east and south, Minas Tirith was the city of Byzantium, Osgiliath was the ruins of Rome, Rohan was the Germanic peoples, and Aragorn was partly borrowed from the Emperor Frederick. Numenor was the ancient Romans, and the Shire was, of course, Merry Olde England."
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARCH-BARBARIANS-Harold-Lamb-TOLKIEN-1st-/380413094122?pt=Antiquarian_Collectible&hash=item58926328ea

ETA: "Kinver Edge in South Staffordshire and its historic rock houses (Hobbit holes) are the most likely source for this inspiration. This is very plausible as during his youth Tolkien lived in nearby Birmingham and often pined for the countryside. At the time Kinver was a popular day out from the dirty and smoky city. From 1901 a short train trip from Snow Hill Station to Amblecote in Stourbridge, followed by a ride along the newly built Kinver light Railway, could put a day visitor in the unspoilt countryside within two hours."
http://www.aquiziam.com/kinver-edge-rock-houses.html