Numerous cobbles, or setts, burst through the asphalt-ied streets of Manchester. Of Roman and medieval origin, they were produced in their millions in the nineteenth century. The discussion turns to their material construction, and to their origins in nearby quarries, including mention of some rare wooden setts and the divergent patterns in which they were laid down across the city. The vanished world signified by cobbles is conjured: the workers who laid them, and the horses that once proliferated, with numerous stables, the smell of horse manure and the sounds of hooves on cobbles. The chapter concludes by underpinning how cobbles continue to feature in cultural representations of Manchester and the industrial North