Grimspound in the Bronze Age

The earlier Neolithic period, from about 4000 BC, witnessed a transition from a hunting and gathering lifestyle towards a growing reliance on farming. By 2500 BC the early farmers were moving into upland areas like Dartmoor, and settled farms and field systems were becoming commonplace.

The remains of the characteristic roundhouses (also known as hut circles) in which people lived can still be seen across Dartmoor. Sometimes they stand on their own, like isolated cottages today; sometimes, as here, they are grouped together in sizeable villages. Such settlements are a defining feature of the Dartmoor landscape.

We do not know precisely how long Grimspound was in use, but by about 1000 BC the settlement pattern was changing. The people living on Dartmoor had cleared the forest, exposing the fragile moorland soil to erosion. Nutrients left the soil, reducing its fertility, and the moor could no longer sustain the same level of occupation.

Surviving structures

The great boundary wall is about 150 metres in diameter. Averaging 3 metres thick and standing up to 1.5 metres high, it is faced with large slabs laid in horizontal courses, with a core of smaller stones between the two faces. However, it seems unlikely that it was intended to be defensive. It was probably simply a barrier to keep wild animals out and farmed animals in.

The site overlooks a valley to the north where there was open grazing land, but the original entrance was on the opposite, uphill side. This imposing entrance is flanked by high walls, with a passage 1.8 metres wide, which is roughly paved. A stream running through the northern half of the enclosure would have provided an excellent supply of fresh water, and explains the settlement’s position.

The walls of the houses within the enclosure were probably not much higher than they are now, and covered with conical roofs of turf or thatch. A number of low rubble banks against the internal face of the enclosure wall probably formed sheep or cattle pens.

Immediately south-east of the enclosure, the remains of at least nine more houses survive. All are linked to rubble banks that form part of a field system.

You can climb up Hookney Tor for a good view of the site, and the high ground on Hameldown is another good vantage point.