in the story north and south the put us in the setting of cromer, united kingdom otherwise known today as Cromer, Norfolk the reason why this place is mentioned in the story was because this is where margaret Hale settled at towards the end of the story after visiting the place with her aunt. she was in cromer basically settling because she wanted to be in paris 

For quite a long time Cromer had been a conventional all year fishing town, floating for herring in the pre-winter and long queue looking for cod in winter. By late Victorian occasions Cromer was grounded as a popular retreat drawing in numerous VIPs, including eminence also , another thing i learned Cromer is a traditional seaside resort and is famous for Banksy's Great British Spraycation artwork, Cromer pier which is home to a lifeboat station and Pavilion Theatre, where the UK's only remaining traditional end of the pier variety show takes place each Summer and Winter.