FACTOID #53: If you thought Antarctica was inhospitable, think again - its land area is only ninety-eight percent ice. Reassuringly, the other 2% is categorised as "barren rock".
Grimspound is a late Bronze Age settlement, in an excellent state of preservation, situated on Dartmoor, Devon, in the United Kingdom. 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).
Grimspound is located on a saddle between Hameldown and Hookney Tor, at 450 metres above sea level. It features 24 stone hut circles within an area of over 16,000 square metres (four acres). Many of these feature L-shaped entrance passages.
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 (3 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.
Grimspound is a few hundred yards up on the left, the path being very clear and easy to follow as it is well worn and the more susceptible parts have been paved with granite slabs to protect these areas from erosion caused by the small but steady stream of visitors and moorland hikers.
Within Grimspound itself can be seen the remains of the many dwellings and storage huts, manifesting themselves as roughly circular structures between nine and fifteen feet in diameter consisting of large granite boulders lying in and on the ground.
Grimspound must once have been a very busy community, with the farmers rearing their cattle and trading them to the neighbouring communities in exchange for goods they didn't produce themselves, such as flint or bronze tools, and grain.
This is 'Grimspound', a very evocative name if ever there was one but unfortunately it is only a few hundred years old.
The person responsible for the naming and baptism of Grimspound was the Rev. Polwhele who was the first person to officially record its name in 1797.
Grimspound was built in the Bronze Age, the current owners, English Heritage suggest that it was the LBA (Late Bronze Age), Chapman considers it to be of MBA (Middle Bronze Age) origin, several other noted prehistorians simply say it is Bronze Age.
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