When a wealthy landowner plans to enclose the Yorkshire village of Lowkirk and move his tenants to work in the town, his daughter, Caroline Brandwith, is forced to disclose a secret she has kept for ten years. The revelation leads her into conflict with her family; a conflict which is heightened when her father attempts to destroy the man she loves. Confronted not only by his cruelty to her, but also by the appalling treatment of the pauper apprentices and the insanitary housing conditions of the workers at Brandwith's Mill, Caroline realizes she has no option but to stand up against injustice...