Grimspound

Grimspound is the best known of Dartmoor's prehistoric settlements, a late Bronze Age village whose 24 stone roundhouses lie inside a massive boundary wall about 150 metres across, in a fold of the hills some 450 metres above sea level between Hookney and Hameldown tors. The Dartmoor Exploration Committee excavated 16 of the houses in the 1890s, finding porches, paved floors, hearths and pottery, and rebuilt the entrance and parts of the wall, not always accurately. Visitors can wander between the hut circles, and there are fine views of the whole enclosure from Hookney Tor. Reviewers describe a short but fairly steep walk up from the road and warn that parking is limited. The site is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority for English Heritage, and an English Heritage audio guide can be downloaded before you go. The moor is remote and exposed, so check the weather first. Ponies and sheep graze freely, so keep dogs on a lead.