The Gallows Pole and the Cragg Vale Coiners

David Hartley of the Cragg Vale Coiners, as depicted in The Gallows Pole TV series

The True Story of the Cragg Vale Coiners

Everyone is talking about the new BBC drama, based around Hebden Bridge and the Calder Valley, that hit our screens this week.

Based on the book by Benjamin Myers, the story centres around a gang of impoverished criminals operating in 18th-century Yorkshire. And unless you live in the Calder Valley, it’s a story you’ve probably never heard of before.

The new Shane Meadows drama, called The Gallows Pole, tells the tale of David Hartley and the Yorkshire Coiners, a brutal gang who made and shared forged currency in the 1700s.

The TV series is based on the book of the same name by Benjamin Myers, which in turn is inspired by the real-life story of the Cragg Vale Coiners. The author describes it as a work of “historical fiction” inspired by real-life events.

For local kids, it's a familiar tale, taught in schools across the Calder Valley. But you’ve probably never heard of them.

Clipping coins, in a scene from The Gallows Pole

So who were the Cragg Vale Coiners?

They were expert 'clippers', taking slivers of gold from individual coins then smelting them down to make fake ones.

The real coins were then filed down to destroy the evidence and the fake ones were minted to resemble French, Spanish and Portuguese currency, which were accepted as legal tender at the time.

It’s worth remembering that, in those days, coins used as money were actually made of valuable metals such as silver, rather than a cheap alloy. As such, they had an intrinsic value in themselves.

The exact number of coiners will probably never be known, but by the end of the scheme, 30 people had been arrested across the whole Calder Valley area in suspicion of forging coins. Many of the local villagers, especially the publicans, were also actively, if indirectly, involved - the coiners relied on steady supply of original coins from which to produce their forgeries.

The scale of their fraud was huge. At one point, almost one in 10 English coins were thought to be fake, many of which were made at Hartley's isolated farmhouse on the bleak Yorkshire moors. It is estimated that, by the late 1760s, approximately £3.5 million worth of forged coins had been paid into the Bank of England.

Real-life Robin Hood

However, it was not so much the scale of the fraud that made them famous locally (not just at the time but for many centuries to come) but more what they did with their fortunes.

David Hartley and the gang of coiners shared the spoils with their impoverished community. David, known by many as ‘King’ David, was seen as a real-life Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to help feed the poor.

The landscape of Cragg Vale lent itself particularly favourably to their activity. The main road through the Calder Valley to the North was an important trade route across the South Pennines, linking them with Lancashire towns like Bacup and Burnley, from which there was easy access to the sea. The moorlands above the valley are open and remote, making it simple to spot anyone approaching from a distance. As such, the coiners were able to hide their “business” very effectively from prying eyes and the long arm of the law.

Once the law eventually got wind of what the coiners were up to, they despatched a law enforcement official to do some digging for information. David Hartley and many of the gang members were eventually arrested, but most were acquitted without charge. Hartley himself was convicted and hanged in April 1770 and his grave can be found in the village of Heptonstall, on the hillside above Hebden Bridge.

Everyone is talking about The Gallows Pole

The powerful new Shane Meadows drama launched this week to rave reviews. Shane says: "It may have turned into one of the biggest crimes in British history, but it was pulled off by a bunch of destitute farmers and weavers doing what they had to do to survive.”

The story still feels feels relevant now, especially with the cost of living crisis that many people now face.

For David's ­relatives, that sense of relevance remains vivid. After he was caught, his widow Grace bought a farm with money the Coiners had hidden and the family stayed in the valley for generations.

As Steven Hartley, direct descendant of David Hartley, says "David is a bit of a hero. ­Obviously he was making money for himself but he was also looking after his community, at a time when nobody else was. This was when the world was changing, the ­industrial revolution was coming.” And that would spell the end for the cottage industries, taking autonomy away from local communities and placing power in the hands of the few.

Hand-to-mouth existence

Life for the average person in the 1800’s was hard.  Many lived a hand-to-mouth existence, working long hours in often harsh conditions. There was no electricity, running water or central heating. 

With no electric or gas lighting, the rhythm of life and work revolved around the hours of daylight, and varied with the seasons. There was no central heating and it would not have been unusual to wake up to ice on the inside of the window panes in the winter. 

A row of weavers cottages would share an outside toilet or ‘earth closet’ - simply a bucket dug into the ground.  Urine was collected in tins for the use in the spinning and weaving industry. Families tended to both live and work together in cottage industries, where terraced houses where linked to their neighbours by internal doors so that work could be passed along from house to house.

You can still, to this day, see terraces such as this in villages around the Calder Valley. Heptonstall is an especially well-preserved example, where the old cobbled streets are lined with tightly-packed stone terraced houses that were once home to cottage industries such as this. Thankfully, they now all have bathrooms with toilets… and electric lights!

Heptonstall museum has recently been refurbished and has re-opened in time to mark the launch of the TV series. The museum lies in the centre of the ancient village of Heptonstall, in the Old Grammar School Building at Church Yard Bottom. The Grade II-listed building dates back to 1600. Built as a warehouse, it was converted to a grammar school in 1771 and closed in 1889. The Yorkshire Penny Bank occupied it 1898 until 1954 – they kept the original school desks, headmaster’s chair, and stone fireplace, which are still in position, when it became a museum in August 1972. Heptonstall museum are now community-owned and run by volunteers. They are keen to offer a range of interesting events, talks and exhibitions. It’s a great place to discover the rich history of this area. https://heptonstall.org/heptonstall-museum/

So if you fancy a hike up a steep hill, take the well-worn pilgrimage up to Heptonstall. It is well worth a visit. You will find a picturesque village with magnificent views over the valley (as well as a superb tearoom selling delicious homemade cakes!). Stop a while to see the grave of David Hartley… and, while you’re there, lay some flowers for Sylvia Plath, too.