Muker is an outstandingly picturesque Dales village. The surrounding hillsides are characterised by drystone walling and inhabited by Swaledale sheep, an especially tough breed adapting themselves to the harsh weather conditions of the high Pennine country. In the heyday of the lead mining industry 1,450 people lived here, and there was a regular market. Lead miners worked the seams with picks and shovels, walking miles to and from their work in hills. To supplement their income, they knitted as they walked. Remnants of those former days are the Literary Institute and the Public Hall "for Muker Parish 1922".