68 ANTIQUARIAN INVESTIGATIONS ON DARTMOOR. 



either low walls of stones piled rudely together in a ridge-like 

 form, or belts of larger stones placed erect in the ground. Their 

 general form is circular, but some examples are elliptical. Re- 

 mains of habitations are in most cases found in these inclosures, 

 so that we may justly conclude that they were originally constructed 

 for purposes of security and defence. 



Grimspound is by far the finest and most extraordinary of all 

 the relics of this class. Viewed from Hooknor tor, which com- 

 mands its entire area, it presents to the spectator an object of 

 singular curiosity and interest. Its situation is on the N. W. slope 

 of Hamildown, bordering on the parishes of Manaton, and Wide- 

 combe in the Moor. The wall or mound is formed of moorstone 

 blocks, rudely piled together, but so large as not to be easily dis- 

 placed. The base of this mound extends in some parts to twenty 

 feet, but the average height of any section would not exceed six 

 feet. With the exception of openings for ingress and egress, the 

 wall is perfect, inclosing an area of about four acres. The vesti- 

 ges of ancient habitations within this primitive fence are numerous, 

 and occupy the whole inclosure, leaving only one vacant spot at 

 the upper end, which might have been a place of public resort for 

 the inhabitants of the town. A spring, rising on the eastern side 

 supplies the inclosure with water, and the whole presents a more 

 complete specimen of an ancient British settlement, provided with 

 means of protracted defence, than will be found in any other part 

 of the kingdom. 



Many similar inclosures, on a less extensive scale, are found in 

 every district of the moor. One, however, is so essentially differ- 

 ent in construction from all the others we have noticed, that it 

 merits a particular description in this place, especially since it 

 appears that it belongs to the unrecorded and undescribed anti- 

 quities of Dartmoor. 



In a small pasture field, about a furlong S. E. of Manaton 

 church, adjoining the parish road, is an inclosure of an elliptical 

 form, in exceedingly perfect condition. The stones of which the 

 fence is composed, are from four to six feet high, placed in a 

 double row and set closely together. One stone, however, is so 

 large that it fills the whole breadth of the fence, being six feet 

 wide and five feet thick. The diameters of the area are one 

 hundred, and one hundred and thirty-eight feet ; and there are no 

 vestiges of any Druidical relic within the precincts. It will be 

 instantly distinguished from the sacred circles of Gidleigh and 

 the Grey Wethers, by the position of the stones, which are witli- 

 out lateral intervals. 



