Civil War
The old milepost, Cragg Vale
“The English Civil War came to Cragg in 1643.”

The Civil War arrived in Cragg in 1643, after the battle of Atherton Moor. The defeated Parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Fairfax escaped away over Blackstone Edge to Rochdale or else trekked home along Turvin Clough.

The successful Royalist army went on a plundering spree over this area of the Calder Valley. Ewood hall above Mytholmroyd was ransacked, and it's unlikely that Cragg escaped the attentions of the Royalists.

Many of the defeated and fleeing Parliamentarian Yorkshiremen regrouped in Rochdale, just over the hill. Around 750 men led by Colonel Bradshaw took up siege positions in Heptonstall on the heights above Hebden Bridge.

Halifax township was commanded by a Royalists under Sir Francis Mackworth with plentiful cavalry (not locals) and Heptonstall was held by 750 Parliamentarians that were locals and knew the area and paths across the moors and valleys around and beyond Cragg.

For 2 months during the winter of 1643 there were skirmishes and harassment all over the valleys until January 9th 1643 when Mackworth sacked Heptonstall.

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