It is thought to be derived from "Stamphotne" (1086 Domesday Book) or "Stauerboten" (12th century - Old English "stæfer" replacing the Norse "stafn" in the first form and meaning "the place where stakes are got").

The area is criss-crossed with pack horse trails from the time when the great monasteries like Fountains Abbey, Jervaulx and Rievaulx traded wool and other goods across this part of the Pennines.

Starbotton has a Quaker burial ground (which was restored as a Millennium Project), a cash machine and a public house, the Fox and Hounds, but no church.

The main damage was caused by trail bikes on the steep section and sharp bends just before it enters the village – resulting in the bed of the track becoming almost impassable to pedestrians.

Even attempts to fill the holes with quarry waste were undone by the traction from motorbikes which sprayed the loose chippings down the hillside.

The imposing house with a pointed arch window, looking down the road (next to the pub), was built for the manager of the Smelt Mill.

In addition, the barn with an external staircase (restored in 2009), on the bend in the road opposite the Fox and Hounds, once housed a drovers' bar on the upper floor.

This was the original pub in the village and its position shows how much the road was raised when the ford across the Cam Gill Beck was converted to a bridge.

On the opposite side of the road, just before the bridge, is what appears to be a small gatehouse beside the entrance gateway to a Victorian dwelling.

The roof to this was broken by a loose tank gun, which swung out of control, on a convoy moving through the Dale prior to D-Day.

There is a bus route that connects the village to Kettlewell, Grassington and Ilkley (where a railway station has services to both Leeds and Bradford).