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Its name derives from the 'stony ford' which linked two settlements half a mile apart on opposite banks of the River Ribble north of Settle. Stainforth, on the eastern side, was formerly owned by Sawley Abbey, whose monks developed the estate which prospered, while Little Stainforth, under private ownership, declined. In the 1670s, Samuel Watson replaced the ford by a packhorse bridge whose arch spans a wooded stretch of the river.