Based on a true story from 17th Century Dartmoor.
Mary Whyddon was the youngest daughter of Chagford's leading family. Betrothed against her wishes to her dull Puritan cousin, her life is thrown into upheaval when Tom, her childhood playmate and the brother of her best friend, comes back to town. Tom has been to the New World and his travels have broadened his horizons. He's witnessed a land of opportunity and this has triggered a wild ambition to return to Chagford to marry Mary. But she is the daughter of a magistrate, and he is a mere farmer's son. What's more, these are troubled times and England is a divided nation on the brink of civil war.