  thumb|an entrance to one of the buildings within grimspound. grimspound is a late bronze age settlement, situated on dartmoor in devon, england. it consists of a set of 24 hut circles surrounded by a low stone wall. the name was first recorded by the reverend richard polwhele in 1797 - it was probably derived from the anglo saxon god of war, grim (more commonly known as woden, or odin). in 1893 an archaeological dig was carried out by the dartmoor exploration committee, which recorded many details of grimspound as well as, controversially, making a reconstruction of the site. ==history== it was first settled about 1300 bc. 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 dart area, and also surmised that it was "one of the principal temples of the druids. other ideas about grimspound include supposed uses as an iron age fort, an encampment for tin miners and even a phoenician settlement.chapman, 5â7. 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 1893 the dartmoor exploration committee began a dig at the site."the exploration of grimspound - first report of the dartmoor exploration committee" in report & transactions of the devonshire association., no. 26 1894, pp. 101-21 the dig, one of whose members was the reverend sabine baring-gould, 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.chapman, 8. ==location== * grimspound is located in the valley between hameldown and hookney tor, at 450 metres above sea level. the nearest village, widecombe-in-the-moor, is a few miles to the south. ==description== thumb|grimspound's outer wall the site is enclosed by a stone wall, interrupted by a large, paved entrance facing south, uphill towards hameldown. the wall 
Archaeological_sites_in_Devon Bronze_Age_sites_in_England Dartmoor English_Heritage_sites_in_Devon Former_populated_places_in_Devon History_of_Devon