Grime's Graves

We arrive at Grime's Graves and go to the visitor centre first.

The name Grime's Graves means "pits of the pagan god Grim" (Grim is also known as Woden) and was named by the Anglo Saxons. It is a prehistoric / Neolithic flint mine that was worked between 2,600 and 2,300 BC; the site covers about 91 acres, and there are many shafts dug into the natural chalk to reach the seams of flint.  There are three layers of flint here - the upper "top-stone, middle "wall-stone" and the bottom "floor-stone" - and the flint was used for making stone axes in this period,  The formation of flint is a complex process which began in the chalk seas millions of years ago, and flint forms in bands or layers because chalk sedimentation occurs in cycles and/or because the process during formation exhausts the silica within a given depth of sediment and flint formation can only recommence when there is enough silica to start the process again.  The site was first extensively explored by the archaeologist William Greenwell in 1868.

We visit the one pit open to the public (9m deep, with a steep staircase) - it is the only one of its kind open to the public in the UK - and we enter it to explore the shaft.  Afterwards, we take the walking trail around the site; Grime's Graves is a really interesting place to visit.Read more