The town of Settle will hardly register as a blip on even the most advanced of GPS systems. This small market town, as quaint and beautiful as it is, has never been very good at getting its name out there but it is quite possible that the two and a half thousand residents of the town don't want the word of Settle to spread. It makes sense, when you think about it; as paltry as the town's legacy is, it is one of the most beautiful little slices of life to be found around North Yorkshire.
Settle dates back to the days of Anglican settlers and, since the Anglican word for settlement is "settle", it is clear that this is a very old town indeed. This would be akin to a town being so old that it is simply given the name of "Town". At any rate, Settle didn't seem to get much respect in those days either. The Domesday Book states the fact that it is THE original atlas of the growth of England, listed the town of Settle as "a waste" as far back as the 1000s. To be fair, though, this was before Settle became a true "market town" in the 1200s. During this time Settle was not particularly noteworthy but it was in no way a "waste" of a town. It was the third King Henry who gave the market charter to Settle and the town never looked back after that. Unfortunately, Settle was not in any of the prime locations around England that could have given it great fortune. Many towns in neighboring counties became famous for the wool trade that exploded around the time while towns closer to major rivers would become major spa towns with aristocratic tourists within a hundred years. Settle was also not close enough to the ocean to boast the resort town features that would reshape many coastal towns in coming years.
It wasn't until the 1700s that Settle actually found a trade that it could base its economy around. The trade in question was cotton spinning and Settle quickly saw the market for cotton spinning become the main income of the town and the job of a large portion of the inhabitants of the town. Even celebrities like John Proctor would indulge in the Settle cotton spinning trade and Mr. Proctor himself made a mint during these days; in lower Kirkgate one can still find the row of shacks that were built by Proctor to house cotton workers. This lane is known as Proctor's Row and it is quite the draw for fans of cotton spinning that took place in the late 1700s. Unfortunately, the amount of people obsessed with this particular niche of history is not plentiful enough for Settle to maintain a tourist industry. This, however, is exactly the kind of thing that the citizens of Settle would detest, as we have discussed earlier. It is entirely possible that Settle's innocuous nature is not accidental but instead by design.
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