Built in 1838 in the Early English Style from designs by Thomas Rickman, Settle Church is a little unusual, for an English Parish Church, being dedicated, not to a Saint but to a Mystery - THE HOLY ASCENSION.

There is a spacious Narthex area to the rear of the Nave with a kitchen, toilets and other useful rooms which have opened the church up for a variety of local community activities. The Narthex also provides a useful space for the congregation to socialise over a cup of coffee after the main Sunday service and for the members of the church to serve refreshments on Tuesday mornings for the benefit of Market Day visitors.

All members of the Settle community, as well as the many visitors to the town, are always welcome at the Parish church to join in worship or to enjoy the hospitality provided by the church members during the week.

A rather more earthly mystery about our church is the fact that it is not aligned along the usual East-West axis but is instead aligned North-South. So the "East Window" actually faces South with the attractive result that a colourful effect is produced by the sunlight streaming though the stained glass onto the adjacent walls and floor. This is best seen if you are fortunate enough to visit in the morning when the sun is shining.
Another notable window at the front of the Nave, is by William Morris, from a Burne Jones design, and dates from 1913.The Chancel, from the Latin CANCELLI meaning a lattice or grating, is separated from the nave by a wrought iron screen. In the past, the naves of churches were also often used for secular community meetings, so the screen was there to maintain the dignity and mystery of the chancel, a purpose which it continues to the present day.

We have a fine church organ, made by JJ Binns of Leeds in the early 1900s, which still has the original pneumatic action.
Looking back towards the door from the front of the nave, visitors are presented with a spectacular view of an original painting by artist and iconographer Mick Brown in 2001 entitled The Ascension which was a gift to the church by the artist.
A set of ceramic "Stations" of the Cross (by Watts of London) can also be seen, in appropriate groupings, at various points around the walls of the nave.  Included in the list of names on the war memorial are two American airmen whose plane crashed on the local hills during training in WW2.
Another memorial on the wall of the entrance porch commemorates the workmen who died, as a result of accidents, while building the Settle- Carlisle Railway Line. There are several railway workers' graves in the chuchyard including one, with an inscription in Welsh.

The Tower with its small spire on top, contains a set of eight bells, which were restored in 1996 and retuned in 2005. They are now rung every Sunday by an enthusiastic band of ringers.

Settle Tower Captain, Kate Mussett says
" The  Settle Band is going from strength to strength with four new ringers joining in the last year making up the present band of nine ringers. 

We start the weekly practice  session every Friday at 6.30pm with those ringers requiring a little extra practice using the simulator.  At 7.30pm, having dispensed with the simulator, we are joined by the remaining Settle ringers together with ringers from other local Towers and we ring together until 9pm. While  we aim for as high a standard of ringing as we can and are continually striving to improve the quality of our ringing we are primarily there to enjoy ourselves and we make sure we have a fun time meeting afterwards for a drink in a local pub.  On a Sunday we meet to ring for the morning service at Holy Ascension and we also have a responsibility to ring for any weddings, funerals or weekday services at the Church that require bells."