The Hidden Country: Yorkshire Investigations

Aim

Fund three evidence-led investigations into Yorkshire places where folklore, landscape and surviving records still meet.

Yorkshire is full of places whose stories are repeated far more often than they are checked.

A prehistoric monument acquires a devil. A hillside figure made in the nineteenth century begins to look ancient. A place-name is treated as proof of a forgotten belief.

Sometimes the familiar story is genuinely old. Sometimes it is surprisingly recent. Often the real history is more interesting than the version that gets repeated.

The Hidden Country looks closely at these stories. It brings together archive records, maps, objects, the landscape itself and the ways a story has changed over time. Facts, interpretation and unanswered questions are kept separate.

Work already published

Two investigations are already available to read:

• The Devil’s Arrows — when did the Devil enter the story?
• Kilburn White Horse — how old is it, and why does it look ancient?

These articles show the method behind the project. This campaign will support three more Yorkshire investigations.

The next investigations

The planned subjects are:

• Rudston Monolith: when did the story of the Devil throwing the stone become attached to England’s largest standing stone?
• Mother Shipton: when did the prophecies attributed to her first appear in print, and which famous predictions were added later?
• York Barghest: when did a wider Yorkshire black-dog tradition become attached to a particular route through York?

The work will follow the evidence rather than a predetermined conclusion.

That means an investigation may find that a story is old, recent, borrowed from somewhere else or impossible to date with confidence. Where the evidence runs out, the article will say so.

What the money will support

The £3,000 target will help pay for the research season and for producing and posting the campaign rewards.

Costs may include:

• archive access, scans and reproduction charges;
• travel and visits to the places being investigated;
• checking public access and visitor information;
• research, source comparison, writing and editing;
• maps, timelines and visual evidence;
• accessible online publication and printable field material;
• printing, packaging and UK postage;
• reporting clearly on how the campaign money was used.

Transaction fees and the direct cost of producing claimed rewards will be paid first.

The remaining funds will then support the investigations in order. The aim is to complete one investigation first, then a second, and then the full three-investigation season as the available funds allow.

The final report will show:

• how much the campaign received;
• what the rewards cost to produce and post;
• what remained for research and publication;
• what was completed with that money.

Why support it now?

The website and publication method already exist. The first two investigations are public and free to read.

What is needed now is time and direct research funding: travelling to places, obtaining records, comparing sources and turning the results into useful public articles.

Crowdfunding makes those costs visible. It also allows the finished work to remain freely available rather than placing it behind a subscription or paywall.

Rewards

You can support the project without choosing a reward.

There are also three printed options:

• Yorkshire Story Postcards — £12
• The Hidden Country Postal Story Pack — £30
• Two-Pack Gift Edition — £75

The Postal Story Pack is an archive-style bundle containing illustrated investigation material, a visitor map and field sheet, postcards, research notes and a supporter card. It is intended to be something worth reading, keeping or giving to someone else.

The Two-Pack Gift Edition includes two complete packs, a hand-numbered A4 art print and optional acknowledgement in the season report.

Full contents and delivery details appear in the reward cards. UK postage is included.

The campaign and reward images are illustrative mock-ups. The final artwork and layout may change, but the listed contents and quantities will be supplied.

No reward will include private evidence, restricted archive material or sensitive location information.

Editorial independence

Supporting the project does not buy influence over its findings.

Contributors cannot choose the conclusion, suppress inconvenient evidence or secure favourable treatment for a person, organisation, place or belief.

They will not receive private ownership or location information, and no vote or reward will override evidence, safety or lawful access.

The purpose is to investigate honestly, including when the answer is uncertain or less dramatic than the folklore.

About the project

The Hidden Country is created and edited by Merrin W. Dream, based in York.

It combines local-history research, source criticism, practical mapping and clear writing for readers who want to know where familiar stories came from and how much evidence supports them.

Progress and reporting

During the season, the project will publish:

• at least one progress update each month;
• a completion note for every finished investigation;
• corrections when new evidence changes the account;
• a final itemised report on campaign spending.

Archive delays, permissions, weather, safety, printing problems or unexpected evidence may affect the timetable. Any significant delay will be explained openly.

The work will not manufacture certainty simply to meet a promised date.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 16th September 2026