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What is a settlement?

A settlement is a place where people live. A settlement may be as small as a single house in a remote area or as a large as a mega city (a city with over 10 million residents).

A settlement may be permanent ortemporary. An example of a temporary settlement is a refugee camp. However, a temporary settlement may become permanent over time. This has happened to many refugee camps that have been built in conflict zones.

The reason a settlement was developed or built can be thought of as its function. For example, the settlement of Southampton is a port.

The piece of land upon which a settlement is built is the settlement site.

There are many reasons why a site might be chosen for the development of a settlement and some factors will be more important than others. How many features can you spot in the map of Southampton below?

Some common site factors include:

Wet point sites - these have a good water supply. Many settlements grew around wet point sites, eg villages in the South Downs.

Dry point sites - these are away from the risk of flooding, eg Ely in Cambridgeshire.

Defensive sites - often found on higher ground so that in the past enemies could be seen from a distance, eg Corfe Castle, Dorset, or in the loop of a meander, eg Durham.

Aspect - settlements are often found on the sunny side of a deep valley. This is common in settlements in the Alps.

Shelter - from cold prevailing winds and rain.

Gap towns - Lincoln is found in a gap between two areas of higher ground.

Resources - important for industry, eg villages such as Aberfan in the Welsh valleys is close to coal reserves.

Bridging point - settlements with 'ford' in their name often grew around a fording point or bridging point, eg Watford is found on the River Colne.

Trading centres - often settlements grow where natural route ways and rivers meet, which helps the development of roads, railways and canals.

The importance of many of these functions diminish as technological advances enable people to overcome difficulties.

The situation of a settlement is its position in relation to the surrounding human and physical features, many of which will have an impact on the settlement's type, size and function.

With modern settlements, remember that decisions about location and situation have been made by planners, but that their priorities may differ from those that determined the location of a historical settlement like Southampton. For example, a modern settlement does not need to be close to a river because drinking water is now piped to our homes and waterways are no longer important for transport.

Settlements come in different sizes, types and locations. You can learn about the history and function of a settlement by studying its shape and size, its placement in the landscape, and its situation in relation to surrounding features.

If you group and classify settlements according to their size and shape, the result is a settlement hierarchy.