Settle, North Yorkshire

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 (1069–1071) the land was granted to Roger de Poitou.

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

During the English Civil War, the Cliffords, the lords of the manor 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.

Daniel Defoe wrote "Settle is the capital of an isolated little kingdom of its own surrounded by barren hills."[2]^:p.163 Because of its remoteness Settle saw mostly local commerce.[3] The old roads were pack horse trails[2]^:p.105 and drovers' roads along hilltops[4]^:p.6 because the valley was soft and swampy before field drainage and the dredging of stream estuaries.[2]^:p.105

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 Trust shows that most investors were mill owners from the Giggleswick district.[5] In 1827 the trust, having miscalculated the cost of road maintenance, was in debt by £34,000.[2]^:p.172 When in 1877 the trust was terminated, the investors received on average 54% of their deposit. The investors had benefited in that Settle was now well connected and its cotton mills boomed. The mill owners imported coal and, like the heavy industries that exported agricultural lime and sandstone masonry, welcomed the turnpike for access via carrier waggons to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Gargrave. The first passenger stagecoach 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.[4]^:p.5

Settle is served by a town council made up of 11 councillors. The mayor is elected annually. There was no election in 2018 as less than 11 people put their names forward.

Settle is in the Settle and Ribblebank ward of Craven District Council. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 3,581.[8] There are two councillors both representing the Conservative party.[9] The town is in the Ribblesdale division of North Yorkshire, where it is represented by a Conservative councillor. It is twinned with the French Mediterranean seaside town of Banyuls-sur-Mer.

View from Castlebergh

Settle was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is located in Ribblesdale, at the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales, within a few miles of the Three Peaks. Immediately overlooking the town is Castlebergh, a 300 feet (91 m) 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, and is now being harnessed by Settle Hydro, a micro hydroelectric scheme, to provide 50 kW of power to the National Grid.

Settle's market is held weekly on Tuesdays in Victoria Hall in the town centre.[10] Settle Town Hall was sold by Craven District Council to a developer.[11] 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.[12]

The Yorkshire Festival of Story[13] 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.[14]

The Folly[15] is a 17th-century Grade I listed building on the main street. In 1996 the North Craven Building Preservation Trust[16] 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 building has been purchased by the trust. The museum is independent and run by volunteers.

The Gallery on the Green[17] 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[18] 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.[19]

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'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, straight-tusked elephant, cave bear and hippopotamus, Bos primigenius, Rhinoceros leptorhinus and spotted hyenas (as a bed of hyena bones). They date to an Upper Pleistocene interglacial. After the last Ice Age the cave was used by hibernating brown bear and reindeer. Associated with the later deposits were a harpoon head carved from antler; flint implements and other ornaments. The discovery of flint is noteworthy as it is not found naturally in the area. Craven Museum & Gallery[20] in Skipton has an exhibition of items which includes a bear's skull found in one of the caves.

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.[21]

Settle has two schools, with Settle Primary School[22] and Settle College.[23] 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 public schools in the North of England, founded in 1512.

• Richard Bache (1737–1811), merchant, American Postmaster General and son-in-law of Benjamin Franklin
• George Birkbeck (1776–1841), founder of the Mechanics' Institutes; Birkbeck, University of London is named after him
• Reverend Benjamin Waugh (20 February 1839 – 11 March 1908) founder of the NSPCC is also commemorated by a plaque on a what is now the Lloyds TSB 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
• Claire Brooks (1931 – 13 March 2008), lawyer and politician
• Don Wilson (7 August 1937 – 21 July 2012), England and Yorkshire cricketer
• Mike Harding (Born 1944), Singer and Comedian
• Emma Lonsdale (sportswoman – skiing) (born 1984), Winter Olympian 2014
• John Newman (born 1990), soul singer
• Dr James Frederic Riley FRSE (1912–1985) radiologist and finder of the link between mast cells and asthma

• Castleberg Hospital

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Settle, North Yorkshire.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Settle.

• 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