1597-98 Plague Stone

There's a squat stone basin sitting in a field near Settle that most people walk straight past without knowing what they're looking at. This is the Plague Stone, dating from 1597-98, and it's a genuinely unsettling piece of local history. During outbreaks of plague, villagers would leave money in the basin - coins left in vinegar or water as a form of payment for goods from neighbouring settlements. The idea was that the vinegar would disinfect the coins and kill off whatever pestilence they might be carrying. Whether it actually worked is beside the point. The stone itself is the thing: a physical reminder of genuine terror, of communities cut off and desperate, of commerce continuing even when death was calling.

You won't spend hours here. It's a five-minute stop at most, a detour off a walk around the Settle area rather than a destination in itself. Bring binoculars if you're into reading old inscriptions - there's not much to see up close. History buffs will find it genuinely affecting; kids will probably think it's a bit odd and want to move on. The real value is in the walk to reach it - the Ribbledale valley around here is proper walking country, and several of the nearby parks (Peaks and Pods is closest at under three miles, Dalesbridge Campsite about four miles away) position you well for exploring.

Freeze your assumptions about what medieval plague management looked like. This stone does that job rather well.