Index

to

The Exploration of Grimspound

by

Rev S. Baring Gould

Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. XXVI, (1894), pp. 101- 121.

Prepared by Michael Steer

The report was presented in August at the Association’s July 1894 South Molton Conference. Grimspound was excavated at the end of the 19th century by the Association’s newly formed Dartmoor Exploration Committee. They excavated 16 of the houses there, and found numerous structures and artefacts, including porches, paved floors, hearths, raised benches, cooking holes, charcoal, pottery and flint. However, no organic matter which might date the site was recovered. The excavators restored parts of the perimeter wall and some of the hut circles, although not very accurately. It remain unknown how long Grimspound was in use, but by about 1200 BC the settlement pattern changed. The thin moorland soils appear to have deteriorated very quickly and it also seems there was a change in the climate. Heavy rainfall reduced the fertility of the Dartmoor soil, so that it could not sustain the same level of occupation. The Committee’s report is copiously illustrated with maps and hut floor plans. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.