Life for ordinary Nottinghamshire families back in the early 1800s was harsh and unfair.
Wages were meagre, food scarce and expensive, poverty was widespread … the perfect ingredients for revolution.
A band of men led by Jeremiah Brandreth, a jobless stocking maker living in Sutton-in-Ashfield, decided it was time to act and in a quiet corner of the Three Salmons pub in Nottingham, they began to plot an insurrection.
But government spies were following their every move.
Brandreth, a father-of-two born in the slums of Narrow Marsh, talked revolution with a man named Michael Oliver, who claimed thousands of radicals were planning an armed uprising in London and he asked Brandreth to persuade local workers to join the rebellion.
But in reality Oliver was an agent provocateur, believed to be operating on behalf of the Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth.
The Pentrich Revolution, named after the Derbyshire village where final plans were hatched, began on the night of June 9, 1817, when around 300 men, mostly stockingers, quarrymen and iron workers, led by Brandreth, set out from nearby South Wingfield to march to Nottingham.
They were armed with pikes, scythes and a few guns, which had been hidden in a quarry in Wingfield Park.
It began badly. Seeking more recruits and weapons from the neighbourhood, they called at a widow’s house. When she refused to open up, the marchers broke a window and Brandreth was suspected of firing a shot into the dwelling, killing a servant.
The group then made for the Butterley Company in Ripley, where they were confronted by factory agent George Goodwin and a few constables.
The marchers moved towards Codnor, pressing more followers into service until their numbers rose to about 400. They also awoke a publican who gave them beer, bread and cheese.
Marching through heavy rain, by early morning they had reached Eastwood, where they were halted by 20 armed soldiers and officers.
Hungry, dispirited and sodden, many in the mob turned towards home, slinging their home-made pikes and pitch forks into the hedges.
Forty-eight marchers were captured without a single shot being fired; most of them were immediately arrested on charges of high treason.
The government was determined to make an example of the ring leaders. Jeremiah Brandreth, William Turner, George Weightman and Isaac Ludlam were held in the dungeons at Nottingham Shire Hall before being taken to Derby to stand trial.
Brandreth, Turner and Ludlam were found guilty and a crowd of 6,000 assembled in front of the scaffold in Derby to watch them publicly hanged and beheaded. The three men were among the last in Britain to be beheaded by axe.
As he awaited execution, Brandreth’s wife Ann, though six months pregnant, walked 20 miles from Sutton to see her husband in gaol.
Weightman was transported to Australia for life. He died in New South Wales in 1865, aged 68, recognised as a worthy and upstanding citizen.
Local historian John Hardwick, chairman of the Pentrich and South Wingfield Revolution Group executive committee, says: “It must be remembered that at the time of the uprising, people were starving.
“They had no votes in the rotten boroughs. Indeed, they had no voice to make their feelings known.
“Many of the demands made by those involved in the Pentrich Revolution and other protests during these times were for rights that we now take for granted.
“Though the uprising appeared to achieve little at the time, it is now seen as a major milestone in emancipation, eventually leading to freedom of speech, votes and other rights for ordinary men and women.
“So perhaps the three men who were executed for their part in the Pentrich Revolution did not die in vain.”
A new information and self-guided tour, funded by the county council, brings the fascinating untold story of Sutton-in-Ashfield’s role in the Pentrich Revolution to a new audience - highlighting the landmarks where this piece of local history, with national significance, unfolded.
The new information panel also tells how Sutton-in-Ashfield continued as a centre of the demand for reform in the long struggle for democracy - further evidence of Nottinghamshire’s role in history as a place of rebellion and free thinking.
Laura Simpson, the county council's heritage tourism officer, said: “Imagine being six months pregnant and having to walk the 40 miles from Sutton-in-Ashfield to Derby and back to visit your husband who is awaiting execution.
“Imagine being unable to do anything about the fact that you’re starving and unable to feed your family because you aren’t even allowed to vote. Imagine doing a hard day’s work under terrible conditions only to be paid less than what you were promised.
“If you can imagine all this, you are only just beginning to get a glimpse of the extreme and harrowing circumstances faced by the people who took part in the Pentrich Revolution of 1817.
"The role Sutton-in-Ashfield played in the Pentrich Revolution deserves to be remembered as a piece of local history that has national significance.”
As well as the historical information displayed on the panel, visitors will be able to use a display map to follow a self-guided walk that takes in all the town’s relevant historical points linked to the story.
Councillor John Cottee, chairman of the council’s Place Committee, said: “We are delighted that this project will recognise our county’s role in the Pentrich Revolution. Our heritage is important to us and our sense of place. This project aligns perfectly with the county council’s aspirations to make more of Nottinghamshire’s heritage and tourism.
"Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors and contributes £1.8 billion per year to our local economy. Visitors will be encouraged to visit our area, stay longer and enjoy our sites and scenery which all play a part in telling the story of who we are and the role Nottinghamshire has played in shaping the history of our nation. ”
The new information panel is located inside the entrance to St Mary’s Gardens, Lammas Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts.
It was unveiled by the chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, Councillor Sue Saddington, and members of the Pentrich Revolution Group.