The Bronte Sisters have transcended the world of literature and have come to embody a time period and style. From retrospective heroines to popular culture influencers, the Brontes continue to fascinate turning their home, the Parsonage in Haworth, into a site of pilgrimage. Here’s a look at the area that influenced so much of their writing, now known as Bronte Country & the Bronte house:

Nestled within the moors of Northern England, the Bronte family first lived in Thornton before moving to Haworth where they explored their imagination and wrote their infamous tomes. Sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne had two older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth who both died in infancy. Their mother, Maria, also died early in their childhood, shortly after the birth of Anne. These family losses significantly marked the sisters and later influenced their writings. 

Multiple deaths of this kind were not uncommon in families of the lower and middle classes at that time, and family friend Elizabeth Gaskell went into great detail about the health and socio-economic realities the Bronte’s would have faced during their lifetime in and around the rugged moors. 

With a Curate father, the Brontes lived at the local Parsonage just a few yards away from his chapel and adjacent graveyard. Located at the top of a cobblestoned cottage-lined hill the home overlooked the town of Haworth to the front, and the undulating moors to the rear. 

Today, the architecture and period character remains but the area has a destination, both as a place of pilgrimage for Bronte fans and tourists, but also as a well-liked area for growing families. Haworth benefits from cultural and social events including the annual 1940s weekend where the town hosts nostalgic events, and is part of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway – an authentic steam-powered railway. The town retains old-fashioned shops and pubs similar to those present at the time of the Brontes.