Settle

Start

Settle Market Place, BD24 9EF

Accessibility

Gentle town walk accessible with pushchairs except steep climb up Castleberg Crags which needs extreme care

Facilities

Parking in Ashfield car park (BD24 9DX), or Whitefriars car park (BD24 9JD). Settle is easy to get to by train from Leeds or Bradford, with cafés, shops and toilets

Distance

6 kilometres - 2 - 3 hours

Route & Map

This walk is an exploration of a typical English market town with its market square cricket pitch and famous son. There is the option to walk up Castleberg Crag with spectacular views over Settle.

From the Town Hall in the Market Square cross main road by pelican crossing and turn down Kirkgate to the left of the Singing Kettle café. Walk to Victoria Hall on your right.
Opposite is the Friends Meeting House and burial ground. Turn left immediately after Meeting House along a footpath which links to Ashfield car park. Go left and then right across the carpark (keep bowling green on right) and exit after Ashfields DIY shop, turning right on to Station Road. The water tower and station are on your left.
Continue down Station Road and under railway bridge. Turn next right and then left around Booths supermarket. After Booths take walk way just before Fire Station towards ‘Lay of the Land’ and then turn right and then left after the old Kings Mill.
Cross the River Ribble by Giggleswick Memorial Bridge. Then turn left along Settle Riverside path for 500 metres heading away from town. Turn right beside a sports field, cross the main road and walk diagonally across next field heading for right hand corner. Here keep right along a path beside a small stream. You are now in the centre of Giggleswick.
If you want to visit the famous Giggleswick School chapel with its copper dome, turn left and walk up the hill up a stepped path on your left. To go inside you need to borrow a key from the School reception (opposite). Walk back into Giggleswick centre.
Continue straight passing St Akelda’s Church on your left. Go left up Belle Hill and right onto the main B6480. Walk past the Secondary School.
Cross the River Ribble and note Settle weir on your left. Turn right AFTER the river. Walk along Kirkgate for 200 metres before turning left beside the Roman Catholic Church. This will take you through to St John’s Methodist Church. Turn right back onto main road, go under railway viaduct and straight back to Market Square.
To walk up to Castleberg Crag exit Market Square via Constitution Hill, beside the Co-op. Climb steeply uphill to large double gates on right which enters Castleberg woods. This is the ‘Tot Lord Trail’ which zig zags uphill through the woods to a gate. Turn left after the gate and scramble up to flagpole where you have a spectacular bird’s eye view of Settle.
Descend from the flagpole continuing in the direction you were going (DO NOT go back on yourself). It is a very steep descent and you will need to be very careful. The path zig zags down through the woods.
Leave the woods by a gate and turn left onto Castleberg Lane. Continue along to Zion Church passing the old washing well on your right. At Zion turn right and descend to the Folly Museum and café.
Continue straight back to the Market Place looking for a memorial plaque to Benjamin Waugh in the wall of Neil Wright’s estate agent.

Route Options

What to look for

1. A market has run in Settle since 1249 and still takes place every Tuesday. On one side of the Market Place are the six arches of the Shambles. The Town Hall was built in 1832, Ye Olde Naked Man dates back to 1663 and Ye Old Naked Woman is nearby in Langcliffe. The Victoria Hall is possibly the world’s oldest music hall with painted actdrop dating back to 1882.

2. In the 17th century it was illegal for Quakers to meet to worship or be buried in church grounds. However, a plot of land called Howson’s Croft was given for use as a Quaker burial ground. Meetings took place here in a barn until the Friends Meeting House was built in 1678 for £80. It is still in use today and you are welcome to visit.

3. Settle Station is the first station on the famous 116 kilometre Settle Carlisle Railway built by the Midland Railway Company in the 1870s. The line had to cross the Pennines so 20 tunnels and 14 viaducts, including Ribblehead Viaduct, were built. The Water Tower was one of eight watering places for steam locomotives on the line and is the only one remaining. It is now a private house.

4. The River Ribble flows through Settle. It runs 120 kilometres from Yorkshire to the Irish Sea! Along its banks you may see grey wagtail, pied wagtail and dippers bobbing on the rocks and mallard, heron and goosander fishing for prey.

5. Giggleswick School is one of the oldest public schools in England and was built in 1512. The chapel with its’ copper dome was a gift from local benefactor, Walter Morrison MP.

6. St Alkelda’s Church was probably named after a 10th century saint who was strangled for her faith! The church has a beautiful carved oak pulpit and Poor Box dating from 1684. It is said that one churchwarden kept small fish in the baptismal font before he went fishing. Part of the churchyard is a wild flower meadow.

7. At Settle Weir some of the river water has been diverted through a sluice gate to turn a huge Archimedes Screw to generate electricity. To one side is an eel ladder and on the other a salmon pass.

8. Castleberg Crag is the impressive cliff towering over Settle. It is a favourite local climbing spot with 24 different routes up the rock face.

10. The Folly was built in the 1670s as a family home and is now the Museum of North Craven Life and has a café in the old kitchen. The North Craven Building Preservation Trust who own the Folly have acquired Zion Congregational Church and plan to renovate it.

11. Benjamin Waugh was born in Settle, the son of a saddle maker. He became a Congregationalist Minister and worked in the slums of Greenwich in London where he witnessed poverty and cruelty. He founded the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in 1889.

info@peopleandthedales.org

Settle

What to look for