Grimspound is a late
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
settlement, situated on
DartmoorDartmoor is an area of moorland in the centre of Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops , providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It consists of a set of 24
hut circleThe roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, originally built in western Europe before the Roman occupation using walls made either of stone or of wooden posts joined by wattle-and-daub panels and a conical thatched roof. Roundhouses ranged in size from less than 5m in diameter to over 15m...
s surrounded by a low stone wall. The name was first recorded by the Reverend
Richard PolwheleRichard Polwhele was an Cornish clergyman, poet and topographer.-Biography:Born at Truro, Cornwall, Polwhele met literary luminaries Catharine Macaulay and Hannah More at a young age. He was educated at Truro Grammar School, where he precociously published The Fate of Llewellyn...
in 1797 - it was probably derived from the
Anglo SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
god of war, Grim (more commonly known as Woden, or
OdinOdin , is considered the chief god in Norse paganism and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon Wōden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wōđinaz or *Wōđanaz.The name Odin is generally accepted as the modern translation; although, in some cases, older...
).
In 1894 an archaeological dig was carried out by the Dartmoor Excavation Committee, which recorded many details of Grimspound as well as, controversially, making a reconstruction of the site.
It was probably first settled about 1300 BCE.
Grimspound is a late
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
settlement, situated on
DartmoorDartmoor is an area of moorland in the centre of Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops , providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It consists of a set of 24
hut circleThe roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, originally built in western Europe before the Roman occupation using walls made either of stone or of wooden posts joined by wattle-and-daub panels and a conical thatched roof. Roundhouses ranged in size from less than 5m in diameter to over 15m...
s surrounded by a low stone wall. The name was first recorded by the Reverend
Richard PolwheleRichard Polwhele was an Cornish clergyman, poet and topographer.-Biography:Born at Truro, Cornwall, Polwhele met literary luminaries Catharine Macaulay and Hannah More at a young age. He was educated at Truro Grammar School, where he precociously published The Fate of Llewellyn...
in 1797 - it was probably derived from the
Anglo SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
god of war, Grim (more commonly known as Woden, or
OdinOdin , is considered the chief god in Norse paganism and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon Wōden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wōđinaz or *Wōđanaz.The name Odin is generally accepted as the modern translation; although, in some cases, older...
).
In 1894 an archaeological dig was carried out by the Dartmoor Excavation Committee, which recorded many details of Grimspound as well as, controversially, making a reconstruction of the site.
History
It was probably first settled about 1300 BCE. The 24 hut circles are surrounded by a massive granite perimeter wall, which may have stood at 1.7 metres in places. The roundhouses, with an average diameter of 3.4 metres, were each built of a double ring of granite slabs with a rubble infill - a technique still used in Dry-stone walling. one, Hut 3, has a surviving porchway, with the two jamb stones still upright, although the lintel has fallen.
There is little evidence of human activity: few artefacts survive apart from the buildings, apart from some pottery, scrapers and pot boilers.
Early descriptions
The name
Grimspound was first recorded by the reverend Polwhele in his
History of Devon of 1797. He called it "The seat of judicature" for the
River DartThe River Dart is a river in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth. Its valley and surrounding area is a place of great natural beauty.-Watercourse:...
area, and also surmised that it was "one of the principal
templeA temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s of the
DruidA druid was a member of the priestly and learned class active in Gaul, and perhaps in Celtic culture more generally, during the final centuries BCE...
s. Other ideas about Grimspound include supposed uses as an
Iron AgeIn archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...
fort, an encampment for
tinTin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead, like the two possible oxidation states +2 and +4...
miners and even a
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
n settlement.
Grimspound was first mapped by A. C. Shillibear in 1829. An 1855 plan by Nick Whitely shows hut circles outlying the perimeter wall, unrecorded elsewhere.
Excavation
In 1894 the Dartmoor Exploration Committee began a dig at the site. The dig, one of whose members was the rev.
Sabine Baring-GouldThe Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould was an English hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography lists more than 1240 separate publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, Lew Trenchard Manor near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he rebuilt...
, reconstructed some of the site, a move criticised by some of the Committee at the time, and also by later researchers including R. Hansford Worth.
Location
Grimspound is located in the valley between Hameldown and Hookney Tor, at 450 metres above sea level. The nearest village,
Widecombe-in-the-MoorWidecombe-in-the-Moor is a small village located within the heart of the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. . The name is thought to derive from 'Withy-combe' which means Willow Valley....
, is a few miles to the south.
Description
The site is enclosed by a stone wall, interrupted by a large, paved entrance facing south, uphill towards Hameldown. The wall would have been substantial - in some places its ruins are more than 15 feet (4.5 m) in thickness. However, the site is of limited value from a defensive point of view, so the assumption is that this was used to keep livestock in, and predators out. It is possible that the stone wall was topped by a hedge or fence. On the northern edge of the site is the start of the
West WebburnThe West Webburn is a stream in the Dartmoor moors in Devon in south-west England. It rises on the western side of the moors flowing off the east side of Hameldon ridge. Its source is extremely close to Grimspound Bronze Age settlement and it was probably the main source of water for the...
which was the main water source for the settlement.
The entrance is described as "the most imposing of all" by Butler. It is a paved and stepped corridor 5.5 metres long and almost 2 metres wide, with
megalithA megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the...
s and other large stones forming the sides. Butler states that it was not designed to exclude livestock.
Excavations at other sites on Dartmoor have shown that such walls were probably built by small teams of men working simultaneously on a section each, as shown by differences in building style; some evidence of this is visible here. However, these may simply be due to the reconstruction work by the 1894 excavation
(see below).
The hut circles
24 stone hut circles have been officially recorded here, although there are probably remains of more within the enclosure which has an area of over 16,000 square metres (four acres). Many of these hut circles feature L-shaped
porchA porch is a structure attached to a building, forming a covered entrance to a vestibule or doorway. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various...
es. The doorways are paved with naturally flat stones, and all face both downhill and away from the prevailing wind.
The 1894 excavation reported that the huts nearest the entrance (save for hut 12) were devoid of signs of human habitation, and were therefore used for livestock or storage, as was hut 2 at the opposite side of the compound.
The huts range between 9 and 15 feet (2.7 - 4.5 metres) in diameter, with walls about 3 feet (1 m) thick, made of upright granite slabs packed with an infill of rubble and possibly
peatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat forms in wetlandbogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests...
. Excavations at sites such as Holne Moor have shown that such huts had an interior plank lining.
The
hearthIn common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven used for cooking and/or heating. Because of its nature, in historic times the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature: its Latin name is focus...
was variously at the centre of the hut, or opposite the door. Ash from the hearths was found to be from
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and
willowWillows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
twigs. A lack of log remains and the presence of peat ash shows that by the time of grimspound's occupation, the local forests had been replaced by enough peat buildup for it to be cut for fuel. Cooking holes contained granite
pot boilerA pot boiler is an externally-heated simple enclosure in which water is heated to produce steam. They can also use a heated stone when used in cooking. When the stone gets hot enough, it gets put in the pot to boil the contents. Usually, they are found in archeological sites, near fire or in inner...
s, pieces of stone heated in the fire and dropped into pots of water sunk into the ground (the pottery of the time not being fireproof).
To the right of each hut entrance is a raised, level area, which the Committee called a "
diasDais is any raised platform located either within or without a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....
", which was probably the sleeping area.
Four of the huts (3,7,17 and 18) contain raisd or upright stones, described as 'anvil' stones, the purpose of which are unknown.
Unlike many similar sites on Dartmoor, there is no obviously larger hut that can be identified as a headman's dwelling, although the Committee did suggest that a pillar outside hut 19 could have meant that the headman lived there.
Other objects
The
acidAn acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion activity greater than in pure water, i.e. a pH less than 7.0...
ic soil of Dartmoor has destroyed nearly all organic material; it is therefore difficult to tell what Grimspound must have been like during its occupation. A
flintFlint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in color, and...
arrowheadAn arrowhead is point of an arrow, or a shape resembling such a point; as archaeological artifacts arrowheads are a subclass of projectile points....
found nearby, and the lack of
quernsQuern-stones are a pair of stone tools for hand grinding a wide variety of materials. The lower, stationary, stone is called a quern, whilst the upper, mobile, stone is called a handstone...
for grinding
cerealCereals, grains or cereal grains, {as a collective} are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds - the endocarp, germ and bran...
s, hints at some dependency on goods from outside the area (flint is not local to Dartmoor). The Exploration Committee also declared that the clay used in pottery fragments did not come from a local source.
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