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 rura ...
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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
, England.
Historically in the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
, 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 military 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 encour ...
(1069–1071) the land was granted to
Roger de Poitou.
In 1250, 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 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.
Until 1974 it was part ...
where the citizens attended the parish church. The first bridge over the
River Ribble
The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...
was mentioned in 1498.
During the
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
, the Cliffords, the
lords of the manor
Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
were
Royalists, 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; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant 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 number of translati ...
wrote "Settle is the capital of an isolated little kingdom of its own surrounded by barren hills."
[OCR copy by North Craven Historical Research](_blank)
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 road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to marketplace, market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were anci ...
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, North Yorkshire, Settle. The road followe ...
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 craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
, 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 ...
at
Gargrave
Gargrave is a large village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the A65 road, A65, north-west of Skipton. The village is situated on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales; the River Aire and the Leeds ...
. The first passenger
stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) 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 ...
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.
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 was built and opened to goods traffic; passenger services commenced 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 part of the parliamentary constituency of
Skipton and Ripon, represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
of the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...
since
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
by
Julian Smith MP, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
.
Before 1 April 2023, Settle was in the Settle and Ribblebank ward of
Craven District Council and the Ribblesdale division of
North Yorkshire County Council
North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...
. Following local government reorganisation, it is now in the Settle & Penyghent division of the new
North Yorkshire Council
North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...
unitary authority. The division is represented by 1 Conservative Councillor.
Settle is served by a town council made up of 10 councillors. The mayor is elected annually and the current Town Mayor is Councillor Debi Rymer. The Deputy Mayor is Councillor Stephen Hogg.
Since 1992, the town has been
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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
seaside town of
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France.
Geography Location
Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissemen ...
.
Geography

Settle was part of the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
. It is located in
Ribblesdale
Ribblesdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the Dale (landform), dale or upper valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire. Towns and villages in Ribblesdale (downstream, from north to south) include Selside, North Yorkshire, ...
, at the southern edge of the
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...
, within a few miles of the
Three Peaks. Immediately overlooking the town is Castlebergh, a limestone crag, and to the east is
Malham which was in the former
Settle Rural District. The River Ribble provided power for Settle's former cotton mills; it is now being harnessed by
Settle Hydro, a
micro hydroelectric scheme, to provide 50 kW of power to the
National Grid, which was opened in 2009.
Transport
Settle railway station is situated on the
Settle to Carlisle line. It is served by
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...
, who operate services between
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
and
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England.
Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
.
Giggleswick railway station is sited away from Settle and is on the
Bentham line between Leeds and
Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
.
Bus routes are operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coaches and
North Yorkshire Council
North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...
, which link the town with
Giggleswick
Giggleswick, a village and civil parish in 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.
Until 1974 it was part ...
,
Horton in Ribblesdale,
Kirkby Lonsdale,
Skipton
Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
and
Wigglesworth.
The town is located from
Leeds Bradford Airport
Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, West Yorkshire, Yeadon, in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. ...
.
The main road through Settle is the B6480, which links to the
A65; it connects the town with
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
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 ...
, Skipton and
Kendal
Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...
.
Local media
Since the town is closest to the
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
and
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
border, local news and television programmes are provided by
BBC North West
BBC North West is the BBC English Regions, BBC English Region serving Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, as well as parts of North Yorkshire (western Craven District, Craven), Derbyshire (western High Peak, Derbyshire, High ...
and
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), 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 on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
that broadcast from
Salford
Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
. Local radio stations are
BBC Radio York
BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Bootham area of York.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...
on 104.3 FM,
Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire on 107.8 FM, and
Dales Radio on 104.9 FM. The town's local newspaper is the ''
Craven Herald & Pioneer''.
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 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 than 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. Since 2014 the Flowerpot Festival has brightened the town's streets.
The Folly is a 17th-century Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
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
Settle to Carlisle Railway,
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 January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
'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.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...
,
straight-tusked elephant
The straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle and Late Pleistocene. One of the largest known elephant species, mature full ...
,
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 (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...
, ''
Bos primigenius'', ''
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 ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
interglacial. After the last Ice Age the cave was used by hibernating
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...
and
reindeer
The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...
. 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. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
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
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
visited Settle on many occasions to visit his friend Dr Charles William Buck. There is a blue plaque at Cravendale to commemorate this.
[ "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, one of the principal
private school
A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
s in the
North of England
Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...
, founded in 1512.
Notable people
*
Richard Bache
Richard Bache (September 12, 1737 – April 17, 1811) was a businessman, a marine insurance underwriter, and later served as Postmaster-General of the American Post Office. He also was the son-in-law of Benjamin Franklin.
Early life
Bache was ...
(1737–1811), merchant, American Postmaster General and son-in-law of
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
*
George Birkbeck (1776–1841), founder of the
Mechanics' Institute
Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...
s;
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...
is named after him
*
Benjamin Waugh
Benjamin Waugh (20 February 183911 March 1908) was a Victorian era, Victorian era social reformer and campaigner who founded and directed the UK Charitable organization, charity, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSP ...
(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 (1860–1919), reforming headmaster
*
Francis Morphet Twisleton (1873–1917), military leader and letter writer
*
Theodore Rigg (1888–1972), agricultural chemist
*
Annice Sidwells (1902–2001), radio singer
*
James Frederic Riley (1912–1985) radiologist and finder of the link between mast cells and asthma
*
Claire Brooks (1931–2008), lawyer and politician
*
Don Wilson (1937–2012), England and Yorkshire cricketer
*
Susan Brookes (born ), television chef, born in Settle
*
Mike Harding
Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, writer, broadcaster and musician.
Early life and education
Harding's father, Louis Arthur "Curly" Harding, a navigator in the RAF, was killed in the Second Worl ...
(born 1944), singer and comedian
*
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
(born 1984), guitarist from
Pulled Apart by Horses attended Settle College
*
Emma Lonsdale (born 1984), freestyle skier and 2014 Winter Olympian
*
James Newman (born 1985), singer, songwriter and the representative for the United Kingdom at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
*
John Newman (born 1990), soul singer
See also
*
Castleberg Hospital
References
Sources
*
*
External links
Settle & the 3 Peaks HistoryCaves in the Settle areaWebsite for Settle Charter Market. Held on TuesdaysNorth Craven Historical Research GroupFour town walks on history of Settle – Richard Preston and the FollyMuseum 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