The Yorkshire Coiners: The True Story of the Cragg Vale Gang

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A copy of my family tree, together with details of census records, probate records, memorial inscriptions and family bible records indicate the direct male link between David Hartley and me, which to my knowledge is the only direct male link remaining. By late 1769 a list of nearly 80 counterfeiters had been drawn up; 30 from Cragg Vale, 20 from Sowerby, 15 from Halifax, 7 from Wadsworth and 6 from Warley and Midgley. By Christmas over 20 Coiners had been arrested, imprisoned and were awaiting trial. I moved to the area in 2009 and lived in Mytholmroyd and I heard a bit about this local mythology but there wasn’t that much information about it, and I didn’t look too deeply in to it. One day my wife, Adele, who’s also a writer, was visiting a place called The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle in Durham, she walked in to the library and was looking along the shelves and there was one book that didn’t have a spine on it. She pulled it out, put it on the table and it fell open at the trial notes of the Cragg Vale coiners, so she was reading them from 1770 and she came home that day and said ‘You know the coiners story?’ and I said ‘yes I know a bit about it’ and she said ‘that would make a brilliant TV series, you should write it’ and I said ‘well I don’t know how to write telly, but I could have a go and write a novel and maybe Shane Meadows could film it one day with some of the actors from This Is England.’ That was in 2014, and it wasn’t even a plan, it was sort of a joking pipe dream really.

Despite their efforts to maintain secrecy, the Coiners’ operation eventually came to light. In 1769, David Hartley was captured, and several members of the group were arrested and brought to trial. Hartley was found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death. On April 28, 1770, he was executed, hanged on a gibbet at York Tyburn. The legacy of the Cragg Vale Coiners lives on in the Calder Valley. Museums and heritage centers in the region preserve their story, showcasing artifacts and providing insights into their activities. Books, poems, and even a folk song have been dedicated to their memory, ensuring that their story remains a vital part of local history. If there's one thing to 'criticise' – and I use 'criticise' in quotes – it's the slow pace of episode one. But it is intended to be a prequel, and as a set-up for what is expected to unfold in the following two hour-long episodes, it's perfect. Viewers of a more delicate disposition might decry the wall-to-wall f***s, but this isn't Pride and Prejudice. The poor majority of 18th-century Britain effed and jeffed as much as it does today. When the trial of Dighton’s murderers took place, the case against Thomas and Normanton could not be proved because of unreliable evidence. Both men were acquitted.The 2017 novel ‘The Gallows Pole’ by Benjamin Myers tells a fictionalised account of the Coiner’s story. The Gallows Pole received a Roger Deakin award for writing concerned with “natural history, landscape and environment” and won the Walter Scott Prize 2018, the world’s biggest prize for historical fiction. Judges described the book as “a roaring furnace of a novel”.

Despite being named in many depositions and examinations as the man that had arranged the murder of Dighton, paid the murderers and obtained and disposed of the weapons; Isaac Hartley was never charged in connection with Dighton’s murder and he died an old man (reports vary between 78 and 85 years of age) in 1815 at his home at White Lee in Mytholmroyd.

Creatives

Much of the coinage in circulation at the time was old and worn, making the differentiation of a clipped or forged coin from a genuine one all the more unlikely.

The chances of discovery were made even more remote by the fact that during the 18th century, England had no public officials corresponding to the modern day Police. Constables were unpaid and played only a minor role in law enforcement. Halifax, seven miles away, had only two Constables and two Deputy Constables and the nearest Magistrate was fourteen miles away in Bradford. The rugged location, primitive transport links, sparse law enforcement, and the state of the genuine coinage all created the right climate for the Coiners to flourish. The local farmhouses were surrounded by open fields or moorland, making the chances of anyone arriving unexpectedly slim and giving the Coiners ample opportunity to tidy away the evidence of their unlawful activities should anybody come to visit. Richardson, Hollie; Davies, Hannah J.; Verdier, Hannah; Virtue, Graeme (31 May 2023). "TV tonight: Shane Meadows's first period drama is about the Cragg Vale Coiners". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023 . Retrieved 31 May 2023. Due to confused evidence, most of the defendants were acquitted but David Hartley was convicted and hanged at Knavesmire, aka the 'York Tyburn', on April 28, 1770. The grave he shares with his wife Grace can be found in Heptonstall, above Hebden Bridge. Nevertheless, the Hartley tale is soon set to spread far and wide. A TV adaptation of the Benjamin Myers novel The Gallows Pole, a part-fictionalised telling of the Coiners story, is currently in production. Tourism to the Calder Valley will likely follow. "It will be like Peaky Blinders. Everyone will want to know about the real Yorkshire Coiners," Steve said, referencing the Birmingham tourism boom sparked by the crime drama series.My own book, Yorkshire Coiners - The True Story of the Cragg Vale Gang sets out the chronological story of the Coiners desribing the original transcriptions of the court documents, newspaper reports, witness statements, letters and other documents. I think audiences will enjoy seeing proper rural Yorkshire, I think they’re in for a treat in the fact that there’s not a large female presence in the book but I think the women do really take quite a lot of control in the scenes and I really enjoy that. The fact that they’ve included sex workers and these minorities or groups that might not get a lot of platforms in life, I think that’s really cool. Samuel Edward-Cook The trial of David Hartley took place on 2 nd April 1770, presided over by William Murray, Lord Chief Justice. Hartley was accused of clipping four guineas with James Jagger, on the evidence of James Broadbent and Joshua Stancliffe, a watchmaker from Halifax. Hartley was found guilty, sentenced to death and executed by hanging at Tynburn, near York, on April 28th. Apparently, Shane Meadows completed Christopher's walk alone while planning the three-part drama. Christoper says: "Shane Meadows was bigging them [my maps] up so he must have seen and liked it. I wish he would have asked me; I would have shown him around," adds Christopher smiling.