This historic house was the family home of the Brontë sisters, who were prominent English poets and novelists.
Charlotte (1816-1855), Emily (1818-1848), and Anne (1820-1849) Brontë were born in Thornton, England, the three out of six children of Maria and Patrick Brontë. In 1820, when their father was appointed vicar of St Michael and All Angels’ Church in Haworth, they moved into the parsonage and lived there for the rest of their lives.
In this house, the sisters created the fantasy kingdom of Angria, published Branwell’s Blackwood’s Magazine, filled with poems and stories, and wrote their famous novels.
In 1846, the sisters self-published under pseudonyms a collection of their poems. The following year, each published her novel – Jane Eyre by Charlotte, Wuthering Heights by Emily, and Agnes Grey by Anne. All stories were inspired by the moorland surrounding Haworth and by their life experiences attending strict boarding schools and working as governesses.
In 1848, Emily died of tuberculosis. That same year, Anne published her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and 11 months after, she died from the same disease. Charlotte continued to publish two more books – Shirley and Villette before she married and sadly passed away while carrying her first child.
Since Charlotte’s death, the sisters’ family house and gravesite became a pilgrimage destination, with people coming from all over the country to pay tribute to the Haworth and the Brontë sisters and witness the place where their magic happened.
In 1928, Sir James Roberts, who knew the Brontë family as a child, bought the house and handed it to the Brontë Society to be operated as a museum dedicated to the sisters’ life and legacy.
The Brontë Parsonage Museum holds the most extensive collection of the family memorabilia, known as Bronteana, including manuscripts, early editions of their novels, as well as personal items such as letters, Charlotte’s sewing box, and wedding bonnet, Anne’s pebbles collection, and Emily’s paint box.
The visitors can stroll around their little bedrooms, their father’s study room, and the dining room, where the sisters worked around the table and helped one another in their writings.
At the garden are a stone wall and plaque that marks the location of the gate connecting the parsonage and the church and a bronze statue of the three sisters, created by Jocelyn Horner in 1951.
In addition to its permanent collection, the museum presents changing exhibitions of contemporary artists, as well as literary events, family activities, and festivals.
Among the interesting places to visit nearby are: the Haworth Parish Church, where Patrick Brontë served as a vicar, the Brontë Waterfall, and the ruined farmhouse Top Withens, which is said to have inspired Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Wuthering Arts gallery named after the gothic novel.
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