Grimspound Bronze Age Enclosure Timeline

The timeline for the site is as follows;

c.1,300 BC First settled. Wall constructed.

1797         Recorded by the Reverend R. Polwhele.

1803         Surveyed by Shillibeer.

1829         First mapped. Illustrated by Shillibeer.

1855         Plan drawn by Nick Whitely – showing hut circles outside the walled area.

1893         An archaeological exploration was undertaken by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, and the Dartmoor Exploration Committee. 16 hut circles were explored. They also rebuilt part of the site and were heavily criticized for doing so.

1857         Plan drawn by A. Fox.

1858         Parts of the site illustrated for a book by A. Fox.

1957         The barbed and tanged arrowhead was found just outside of the entrance.

1964         Part of the site was restored following vandalism.

1991         Surveyed by RCHME.

1991         Field Investigation.

1996         The site was scheduled.

A fascinating site with a mysterious history.

References & Bibliography

Butler, J. 1997. The Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities. V: The Second Millennium B.C. Devon Books.

Chapman. L. 1996. The Ancient Dwellings of Grimspound & Hound Tor. Orchard Publications.

Darvill. T. 1996. Prehistoric Britain from the Air: A Study of Space, Time and Society. Cambridge University Press.

Gordon Childe. V. 1930. The Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press.

Greeves. T. 1985. The Archaeology of Dartmoor from the Air. Exeter.

Lewis. A. L. 1872. A Description of Some Archaic Structures in Cornwall and Devon. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland , 1872 , Vol. 1 (1872), pp. 1-9.

Ormerod. G. W. 1864. On the Hut Circles of the Eastern Side of Dartmoor. Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Volume 20. pp. 298-306.

Ormerod. G. W. 1876. Archæological memoirs relating to the east of Dartmoor. [5 papers repr. from contrib. by the author to various societies.].

Saltmarsh. B. 1976. Fieldwork: Dartmoor and South East Devon. Teaching Geography, Vol. 2, No. 1 (August 1976), pp. 15-18.

Spence Bate. C. 1872. Report on the Prehistoric Antiquities of Dartmoor. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 872, Vol. 1 (1872), pp. 105-106.

Worth. R. N. 1967. Worth’s Dartmoor. David & Charles.