Settle is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 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 (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 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.
Infrastructure
Daniel Defoe wrote "Settle is the capital of an isolated little kingdom of its own surrounded by barren hills." Because of its remoteness Settle saw mostly local commerce. The old roads were pack horse trails and drovers' roads 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 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 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.
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 served by a town council made up of 11 councillors. The mayor is elected annually and the current town mayor is Dan Balsamini, serving his fourth year in the role having been re-elected in 2019, 2020 and 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 North Yorkshire, where it is represented by a Conservative councillor. Since 1992, the town has been twinned with the French Mediterranean seaside town of Banyuls-sur-Mer.
Geography
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 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.