Sett (paving)

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For other uses, see Sett (disambiguation).
A road paved with setts, often confused with cobbles
Laying setts in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2013

A sett, usually referred to in the plural and known in some places as a Belgian block,[1] is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used for paving roads.[2] Formerly in more widespread use, it is now encountered more as a decorative stone paving in landscape architecture.[3][4] Setts are often idiomatically[5] referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a cobblestone by being quarried or shaped to a regular form, whereas the latter is generally of a naturally occurring form.[6]

Setts are usually made of granite.

Notable places[edit]

Notable places paved with setts include Vicars' Close, Wells,[7] many streets in Aberdeen (Scotland), much of Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town, Red Square in Moscow and the Granada TV set of Coronation Street.

In New York City the meat-packing district and SoHo retain such streets.

Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia, in particular its upper reaches through Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill, is notable for being paved with Belgian blocks; repaving projects on this thoroughfare have retained or reintroduced setts to give additional historic character to these neighborhoods. Part of this character includes the tracks of the 23 trolley, though the modern tracks are encased in concrete slabs rather than setts, and the trolley line itself is currently operated by buses.

In Richmond, Virginia Belgian block streets are particularly common, most notably in Shockoe Slip. Street cars traveled through the street on tracks that are still visible though the system has been replaced by buses.

The Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore also has Belgian block streets.

In many cities besides Richmond and Philadelphia setts have often been used for pavement around street-running trolley or tram lines in the same manner as brickwork.


Streets paved with setts are highlights in several cycling competitions such as the final Champs-Élysées stage of the Tour de France and the Paris–Roubaix road race. Riding upon sett is technically more challenging than riding on asphalt.


See also[edit]


  1. ^ Potter, Chris (October 14, 2004). "Were Pittsburgh's original finished roads and streets paved with cobblestone, Belgian block or some other type of brick?". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 
  2. ^ Oliver, David. "A Walking Tour of The Royal Burgh of Wick". Retrieved 2009-03-04. "At the first building after the end of the bridge, turn left into East High street which has not been widened and still has old stone setts." 
  3. ^ "Secret garden is a joy to behold". This Is South Wales. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2009-03-04. "This is a garden of variation rather than variety. Hedges in subtly different colours and heights, paths sticking to the same small palette of materials, old timber from Swansea docks, granite setts, stone and brick but varying in pattern to suit the moment and the rhythm of the space, a small number of boldly used containers, lipped with jagged zinc, contain strong effects, from cloud-pruned box to a flat plane of granite setts." 
  4. ^ Guinness, Bunny (2009-02-23). "Framing a garden view". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2009-03-04. "You can pull the pattern work through to the paving too, echoing the style with bands of setts, pebbles or slabs." 
  5. ^ "Cobble". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2012-04-04. 
  6. ^ "Setts & Cubes: Introduction". A J McCormack & Son. Retrieved 2012-04-04. 

External links[edit]