with Burt suggesting in 1826 that the site was a walled town and a place to keep cattle A contemporary writer named Bray supported the notion of it being a ‘town’ and referenced Strabo and Caesar's descriptions of early sites as comparisons to Grimspound Around the middle of the 19th century, opinions begin to change. The valley position is noted and its function interpreted as defending cattle against wolves with the hut circles for the owners and cattle herders Two men resisted this change of opinion and saw the site's use as protecting the common Dartmoor mineral of tin Interestingly, another author highlighted its location on a possible ancient route through the break in the ridge of Hameldown. Grimspound was first mapped by A. C. Shillibear in 1829. When overlain on the 1990 map, the discrepancy between the two is very slight, a testament to Shillabeer's accuracy of locating features. This includes the pens, gateway, the central hut circles and even a large stone at the northern end of the site. However, the interesting points are the presence of several now-vanished features. In the western side of the enclosure, many features can be seen. To the north of the semi-circular enclosure, is a line of two parallel walls. When compared to the most recent survey, this has disappeared. The semi-circular enclosure has also vanished and, possibly due to the 1893 and 1894 excavations, many internal features of the hut circles are gone. 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 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. The excavation commenced with the location of the entrance and then removing the topsoil and any loose stones, before a trench was cut through the hut circle, with straight-edged stones left in place. Once a hearth was discovered, the earth was sieved carefully for environmental finds such as charcoal, seeds and flint. Both halves of the hut circle were then cleared and the soil sieved. Once the entire hut circle had been cleared, the site was backfilled and the huts reconstructed. Whilst this was an antiquarian endeavour, several aspects of the excavation could be