Settle is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the Craven district of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England.

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, it is served by Settle railway station located near the town centre, and Giggleswick railway station which is a mile away. It is from Leeds Bradford Airport. The main road through Settle is the B6480, which links to the A65, connecting Settle to

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

and Kendal. The town had a population of 2,421 in the 2001 Census, increasing to 2,564 at the 2011 Census.

History

Settle is thought to have 7th-century Anglian origins, its name being the Angle word for settlement. Craven in the ''Domesday Book'' shows that until 1066 Bo was the lord of Settle but after the

Harrying of the North The Harrying of the North was a series of campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate northern England, where the presence of the last House of Wessex, Wessex claimant, Edgar Ætheling, had encouraged An ...

(1069–1071) the land was granted to

Roger de Poitou Roger the Poitevin (Roger de Poitou) was born in Normandy in the mid-1060s and died before 1140. He was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat, possessing large holdings in both England and through his marriage in France. He was the third son of Roger of Mo ...

. In 1249 a market charter was granted to Henry de Percy, 7th feudal baron of Topcliffe by Henry III. A market square developed and the main route through the medieval town was aligned on an east-west direction, from Albert Hill, Victoria Street, High Street and Cheapside and on through Kirkgate. This road led to

Giggleswick Giggleswick, a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, lies on the B6480 road, less than north-west of the town of Settle and divided from it by the River Ribble. It is the site of Giggleswick School. T ...

where the citizens attended the parish church. The first bridge over the River Ribble was mentioned in 1498. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, the Cliffords, the

lords of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...

were

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

, but their subjects were not. John Lambert of Calton in Malhamdale, was a general in Cromwell's army and his troops camped at Settle in August 1651 while on the road to an encounter in Lancaster.

Infrastructure

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

wrote "Settle is the capital of an isolated little kingdom of its own surrounded by barren hills."OCR copy by North Craven Historical Research
Accessed 30 September 2012 Because of its remoteness Settle saw mostly local commerce. The old roads were pack horse trails and

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove ''roador droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of unknown age; ot ...

s along hilltops because the valley was soft and swampy before field drainage and the dredging of stream estuaries. In the 1700s textile industrialists supported by traders and landowners campaigned for a turnpike to connect with growing industrial towns. The minute book for the

Keighley and Kendal Turnpike The Keighley and Kendal Turnpike was a road built in 1753 by a turnpike trust between Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire and Kendal in Westmorland, England. The primary instigators were in Settle. The road followed a modified ancient rou ...

Trust shows that most investors were mill owners from the Giggleswick district. In 1827 the trust, having miscalculated the cost of road maintenance, was in debt by £34,000. When in 1877 the trust was terminated, the investors received on average 54% of their deposit. The investors benefited because Settle was now well connected and its cotton mills boomed. The mill owners imported coal and, like the heavy industries that exported

agricultural lime Agricultural lime, also called aglime, agricultural limestone, garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate. Additional chemicals vary depending on the mineral ...

and sandstone

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

, welcomed the turnpike for access via carrier waggons to the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

Gargrave Gargrave is a large village and civil parish in the Craven district located along the A65, north-west of Skipton in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales. The River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool ...

. The first passenger

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

arrived in 1763. The Mail Coach was running regularly in 1786. The Union coach for passengers ran each way on alternate days in the early 1800s, and daily by 1840.

Railways

The "little" North Western Railway reached in 1847 and in 1849 the railway company constructed Station Road from Giggleswick to Settle. In 1875, the

Settle to Carlisle Railway Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ' ...

was built, opening to goods traffic in 1875 and to passengers the following year when Settle railway station opened along with a goods warehouse, cattle pens, signal box and water cranes. In the late 18th century cotton spinning became the town's main employment. Bridge End Mill was converted from corn milling to cotton spinning. John Procter operated mills at Runley and King's Mill which were taken over by his son Thomas. He built the row of workers' cottages, Procter's Row in Lower Kirkgate. In 1835, Dog Kennel Mill and Brennand's Weaving Shed, Settle had five mills employing 333 people.

Governance

Settle is served by a town council made up of 11 councillors. The Mayor is elected annually and the current Town Mayor is Dan Balsamini currently serving his 4th year in the role having been re-elected in 2019, 2020 & 2021. The Deputy Mayor is Debbie Rymer first elected in 2021. Settle is in the Settle and Ribblebank ward of Craven District Council. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 3,581. There are two councillors both representing the Conservative party. The town is in the Ribblesdale division of

, where it is represented by a Conservative councillor. It is twinned with the French

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

seaside town of

Banyuls-sur-Mer Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was first settled by Greeks starting in 400 BCE. Geography Location Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the ar ...

Geography

Settle was part of the

. It is located in

Ribblesdale Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Stainf ...

, at the southern edge of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

, within a few miles of the Three Peaks. Immediately overlooking the town is Castlebergh, a limestone crag, and to the east is

Malham Malham is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Before 20th century boundary changes, the village was part of the Settle Rural District, in the historic West Riding of Yorkshire. In the ''Domesday Book' ...

which was in the former

Settle Rural District Settle Rural District was an administrative district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The rural district was named after the town of Settle and included the civil parishes of Bentham, Clapham cum Newby, Malham, Settle, Stainforth, Au ...

. The River Ribble provided power for Settle's former cotton mills, and is now being harnessed by

Settle Hydro Settle Hydro is a micro hydro, micro hydroelectric scheme, owned by the community, in Settle, North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the River Ribble, at Settle Weir near Bridge End Mill. It generates 50 kW of electricity using a screw ...

, a micro hydroelectric scheme, to provide 50 kW of power to the National Grid.

Television

Since the town is closest to the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

border, local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC North West BBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire (western Craven), West Yorkshire (western Calderdale), Derbyshire (western High Peak), Cumbria (Barrow-in-Furness ...

and

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

that broadcast from

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Tourism

Settle's market is held weekly on Tuesdays in the town-centre marketplace and in the Victoria Hall, a short distance away on Kirkgate.

Settle Town Hall Settle Town Hall is a municipal building in Cheapside in Settle, North Yorkshire, England. The structure, which was the meeting place of Settle Rural District Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The town hall was commissioned by a ...

was sold by Craven District Council to a developer in October 2011. The Square is surrounded by local businesses, most of which are family-owned, with some offering items for sale unique to the Settle area. The Naked Man is believed to be the oldest cafe in the country. The Yorkshire Festival of Story brings internationally known and award-winning artists to the town and has a range of paid-for and free events suitable for all age ranges. The festival attracts visitors from around the world and audiences have more trebled in size since the first festival in 2010. The event is the largest of its kind in the North of England. The Yorkshire Festival of Story is produced by Settle Stories an arts and heritage charity based in the town. The Folly is a 17th-century Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on the main street. In 1996 the North Craven Building Preservation Trust purchased part of the Folly, restored it and opened it to the public in 2001. The Folly houses the Museum of North Craven Life and hosts exhibitions during the open season. There are permanent displays, including the

, Robert (Mouseman) Thompson furniture and local history. The rest of the building has been purchased by the trust. The museum is independent and run by volunteers. The Gallery on the Green is thought to be the smallest art gallery in the world: drawings, paintings, photographs and other works are housed in a former BT telephone kiosk. Gavagan Arts at Linton Court Gallery is situated in a courtyard off Duke Street. The gallery presents a series of temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. The Listening Gallery is an audio gallery in an old phone box. The gallery has changing exhibitions and is open 365 days a year and is free to enter. The box is maintained and was created by Settle Stories. The district has several caves where prehistoric remains have been found, the most notable being Victoria Cave, so-called because the inner chamber was discovered in 1837 on the day of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's accession. The cave is a geological SSSI and scheduled monument. Victoria Cave contained fossil remains. The earliest, at 130,000 years old, include

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...

straight-tusked elephant The straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (781,000–30,000 years before present). Recovered individuals have reac ...

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...

and

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

, ''

Bos primigenius The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene; ...

'', '' Rhinoceros leptorhinus'' and

spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...

s (as a bed of hyena bones). They date to an Upper

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

interglacial. After the last Ice Age the cave was used by hibernating

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...

and

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

. Associated with the later deposits were a harpoon head carved from antler;

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

implements and other ornaments. The discovery of flint is noteworthy as it is not found naturally in the area. Craven Museum & Gallery in Skipton has an exhibition of items which includes a bear's skull found in one of the caves.

Cultural

The composer Edward Elgar visited Settle on many occasions to visit his friend Dr Charles William Buck. There is a blue plaque at Cravendale to commemorate this.Leeds Daily Photo
"Plaque to Edward Elgar English Composer"

Education

Settle has two schools, with Settle Primary School and Settle College. Settle Middle School closed as part of the money-saving measures taken by North Yorkshire County Council. To the west of the town is

Giggleswick School Giggleswick School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England. Early school In 1499, Giggleswick School was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior an ...

, one of the principal

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

s in the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

, founded in 1512.

Notable people

Richard Bache Richard Bache (September 12, 1737 – April 17, 1811), born in Settle, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, immigrated to Philadelphia, in the colony of Pennsylvania, where he was a businessman, a marine insurance underwriter, and later served as ...

(1737–1811), merchant, American Postmaster General and son-in-law of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

George Birkbeck George Birkbeck Royal Society of London, FRS (; 10 January 1776 – 1 December 1841) was a British physician, academic, philanthropist, pioneer in adult education and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Strathclyde, Andersonia ...

(1776–1841), founder of the Mechanics' Institutes;

Birkbeck, University of London , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

is named after him *Reverend

Benjamin Waugh Benjamin Waugh (20 February 183911 March 1908) was a Victorian social reformer and campaigner who founded the UK charity, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in the late 19th century, and also wrote various hy ...

(1839–1908) founder of the NSPCC, commemorated by a plaque on what is now the Neil Wright Estate Agents in Settle town square *

George Howson George William Saul Howson MA (8 August 1860 – 7 January 1919) was an English schoolmaster and writer, notable as the reforming headmaster of Gresham's School from 1900 to 1919. Early life Howson was one of the four sons of William Howson of ...

(1860–1919), reforming headmaster *

Francis Morphet Twisleton Francis Morphet Twisleton (17 February 1873 – 15 November 1917) was a New Zealand soldier who served in the Boer War and the First World War and became well known for his writings of soldiering life. Born in England, he and his brother e ...

(1873–1917), military leader and letter writer * Theodore Rigg (1888–1972), agricultural chemist *

Annice Sidwells Annice Sidwells (1902–2001) was a star of early wireless radio in the UK as a contralto singer. Sidwells was born in Settle, West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, Engla ...

(1902–2001), radio singer *

Claire Brooks Kathleen Claire Brooks OBE (née Graham; 1931 – 13 March 2008) was a British lawyer and Liberal and Liberal Democrat party politician in the radical tradition. Personal life Claire Brooks was born at The Folly in Settle, a town in the York ...

(1931–2008), lawyer and politician * Don Wilson (1937–2012), England and Yorkshire cricketer * Susan Brookes (born circa 1943/44), television chef, born in Settle *

Mike Harding Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet, broadcaster and multi-instrumentalist. Harding has also been a photographer, traveller, filmmaker and playwright. Early life and education Harding's ...

(born 1944), singer and comedian * Emma Lonsdale (sportswoman – skiing) (born 1984), Winter Olympian 2014 * James Newman (born 1985), singer, songwriter and the representative for the United Kingdom at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The con ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* John Newman (born 1990), soul singer *Dr

James Frederic Riley James Frederic Riley FRSE FRCSE (2 May 1912–17 January 1985) was a 20th-century English physician, radiologist and cancer specialist. His identification (working jointly with Dr Geoffrey West) that the mast cell was the main producer of hi ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1912–1985) radiologist and finder of the link between mast cells and asthma *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, guitarist from

Pulled Apart by Horses Pulled Apart by Horses are an English alternative rock band from Leeds. They formed in early 2008. The band were signed by Transgressive Records in 2009, and released their debut self-titled album '' Pulled Apart by Horses'' on 21 June 2010. I ...

attended Settle College

References

External links

Settle & the 3 Peaks History

Caves in the Settle area

Website for Settle Charter Market. Held on Tuesdays

North Craven Historical Research Group

Four town walks on history of Settle – Richard Preston and the Folly

Museum of North Craven Life at The Folly
{{Authority control Towns in North Yorkshire Market towns in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Craven District Ribblesdale