Sett (paving)

[2][3] Formerly in widespread use, particularly on steeper streets because setts provided horses' hooves with better grip than a smooth surface, they are now encountered more usually as decorative stone paving in landscape architecture.

Places paved with setts include many streets in Rome and elsewhere in Italy (where blocks are called sampietrini or bolognini), since the technique was first used by Romans.

Silloth on Solway, a seaside town in Cumbria, still has setts (originally laid in the 19th century) on Eden St and the seafront Criffel Street.

However, in recent years, many of them have been progressively replaced by asphalt in order to reduce car noise and improve conditions for commuter cycling.

To make it easier to bike on, the part of the road meant for bicycles are paved with special stones that are saw-cut on top for smoothness and jet-burned for friction.

Portland, Oregon, used Belgian block paving extensively in the 19th century, starting near the Willamette River, to stop the streets from washing away in floods.

The romantic claim that old Portland "cobbles" were imported as ship's ballast is incorrect; they are local basalt, quarried near St. Helens in Oregon.