| Grimspound, lying between Hookney and Hameldown Tors,consists
of the remains of a Bronze Age village (circa 2500-600BC). The hut circles
or round houses have an average diameter of just 3.4m and there are the
remains of 24 stone huts enclosed within an enclosure wall. They consist
of a double ring of stones, built to a height of three or four feet, with
spaces between the stones in-filled with smaller stones and earth, and then
backed up with turf on the outside. The huts would have been roofed with
branches and turf supported by a central wooden pole. Some huts have porches,
with a paved entrance, to protect the entrance from the wind and rain. The
original entrance to the compound is on the SE side, with a path leading
up to Hamel Down, and the remains of the pavement and the gateway can still
be clearly seen. Some of the huts in the site were excavated in the 1890's
by the Dartmoor Excavation Committee and hearth stones, cooking pits, flint
scrapers, a flint knife, a fragment of pottery and a polishing stone were
amongst the finds. |
