WALKING around the calm surroundings of Mold's Tyddyn Street Church, it's hard to believe that 150 years ago this quiet spot was at the centre of one of the UK's most notorious examples of civil disturbance.

The Mold Riots which took place in the town on June 2, 1869, resulted in the deaths of four people, including two women and a teenager, and it was a tragedy that would lead the authorities to rethink and change the way they dealt with public disorder in the future. Years later, the disturbance's roots in the discontent felt by the region's mining community would be echoed in the strikes of the 1980s with heavy-handed policing and a mistrusting Government raising the obvious question of what had really changed in the intervening decades?

"The riot was a culmination of lots of industrial disputes," explains Mold historian David Rowe. "The militia has been called numerous times across the county throughout the 1800s for various reasons including the fact unemployed miners were coming into Wales from England. A lot of things were building up and tensions had been simmering for years. Miners tend to live in tight communities and it was dangerous work and they suffered with their health. It was a volatile industry too with prices rising and falling. Put all these factors together and it was the recipe for some major issues."

With these tensions in the background and the relationship between Welsh workers and English employers on a knife edge, the decision by Englishman, John Young, the manager of the Leeswood Green Colliery, to announce a pay cut and the banning of the use of the Welsh language underground, was the final straw . Following a meeting which was held at the pit head on May 19, 1869, a number of the miners attacked Young before marching him unceremoniously to the police station at Pontblyddyn. Seven colliers were arrested and were ordered to stand trial at Mold Magistrates Court on June 2, 1869. They were all found guilty and the two alleged ringleaders, Ismael Jones and John Jones, were sentenced to a month's hard labour.

Not unexpectedly, the court case had attracted a great deal of attention in the area and a large crowd had started to assemble to hear the verdict. Aware of the problems that could arise, the Chief Constable of Flintshire had already ensured the services of constables from all parts of the county, and had asked for the assistance of soldiers from Chester earlier that morning.

"The reports of the time say there were between 2,000-3,000 people gathered in Mold," says David. "Miners from across the area had taken time off to come and it's said that people were there early in the morning before the trial started. I think many of them expected the men to get their wrists slapped and you can picture the scene - there were people who had been there all day, one would assume a bit of alcohol had been taken and at 5pm when the verdict was announced temperatures were rising."

As the authorities attempted to transport two of the ringleaders from the court to Mold railway station, where a train was waiting to take them to the gaol at Flint Castle, the crowd reacted angrily and threw stones and other missiles at the officers, injuring a number of them. On the command of their commanding officer, Captain Blake, the soldiers opened fire on the crowd, killing four, including one innocent bystander, Margaret Younghusband, a 19-year-old domestic servant from Liverpool, who had been observing events from the nearby church which she had been cleaning. The musket ball severed her femoral artery and she bled to death. The others killed included Robert Hannaby a collier from Moss, near Wrexham. He was shot in the head in the act of throwing a stone and died instantly. Edward Bellis, another collier, was shot in the abdomen. A local doctor, Dr Platt, performed surgery to remove the ball but Bellis died shortly afterwards. Elizabeth Jones, living at Coed Talon, was shot in the back and died two days later from the injury.

"There were 39 police officers on duty so they were expecting trouble which was why they brought in 50 soldiers from the 4th King's Own Regiment (Lancaster), who were based temporarily at Chester," says David. "These were trained soldiers and in the official reports it talks about how they were being pelted with stones and cobbles from the street because there were road works being carried out nearby. Many of the soldiers and police were not able to defend themselves and it was at this stage they got the order to fire but the first volley was fired over the crowd's heads and other volleys were also fired over their heads.

"There were quite a few wounded but only four killed which makes me think if they had really gone at it and shot into the crowd there would have been 50-100 people dead because these were very easy targets."

The Coroner's inquest on the first three deaths was held in the same week as the riot, on Saturday June 5, in the building which now houses the Fat Boar public house. The Coroner, Mr Peter Parry, was described as "exceedingly old and infirm and being so deaf as to be compelled to use a 'speaking' trumpet, to which affliction must be added that greater one of partial blindness." He was assisted by the Deputy Coroner, his brother Robert Parry, surgeon, of Mold. The verdict of the Jury, following clear direction of the Coroner, and after retiring for five minutes to consider the matter, was that of justifiable homicide. Later that afternoon the Coroner held a further inquest on the death of Elizabeth Jones, who had died at 11 pm the previous night. The same verdict was reached.

"The townspeople of Mold weren't happy that the riot had happened but they didn't support the miners," continues David. "They commented during the inquest that the army had shown 'great forbearance in the face of hostility' and as a result the miners took a lot of their trade away from Mold. Things got so bad that a few years later they supported the jailed miners being released."

150 years later, David believes the riot's importance to Mold cannot be understated and he continues to present talks on the events of that day using his painstaking research to highlight what happened.

"It's a legacy for us to think about and one that should make us ensure we never get to a 'them and us' situation again." adds David. "The thing about history is to try and learn from you mistakes but sadly you can't say that similar circumstances that led to the riot won't happen again. Maybe lessons haven't been learnt."

An exhibition on the Mold Riots will begin at Mold Tyddyn Street United Church on Wednesday June 5 at 11.30am to 12.30pm, and will run run every Wednesday of the month at the same time thereafter. A special service will be held at the church on June 2 2019, at 10.30am, to 'remember the events of 1869, think about the causes and commit ourselves to a fairer world.'