Haworth's claim to fame is the fact that the Bronte family lived and died there in the 19th century. Patrick Bronte, father of the family, was the local clergyman of Irish descent. Three of his six children became famous authors, although only one lived long enough to actually experience that fame.
The main street and many of the shops are still (more or less) in the state that they were in while the Brontes lived there. Furthermore, the parsonage has been refurbished as a museum and houses many Bronte memorabilia. In fact, much of the furniture is the original furniture from the Bronte family and walking through those rooms conveys an eerie sense of connection with their days, in particular when seeing the sofa on which Emily died, the dress that Charlotte wore, or the tiny booklets that they wrote for their own amusement when children.
The Bronte sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne have become legendary authors of a number of novels and poetry collections, all written and published around the middle of the 19th century. The best known are:
The Bronte family members were short-lived: two children died at ages 11 and 12, the remaining four (including the three writing sisters) died before they were 30, with the exception of Charlotte, who died at the age of 38. Their mother had died long before; only the father, Patrick Bronte, reached the ripe old age of 83 surviving long after his wife and children had all gone.
Even while Charlotte was still alive, Haworth became a place of pilgrimage for curious folk. Nowadays, tourists from all over the world flock to see the curious little village where this wild novels were written...
For further information about Haworth and Bronte country, try the following:
Our own Top Withins page
Top Withins is a remote (and derilict) farmhouse on the Yorkshire moors
close to Haworth, and is assumed to be the inspiration for Heathcliffe's
abode "Wuthering Heights". The page contains some nice pictures
of Top Withins and its surroundings.
Haworth Tourist Information Centre
2-4 West Lane, Haworth, BD22 8EF, Tel: (01535) 642329, Fax: (01535) 647721
Bronte Country web site
http://www.bronte-country.com/welcome.html
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Copyright © 1999-2000 Anne-Wil Harzing
and Ron van der Wal. All rights reserved.
Legal notices and colophon. This page was last modified on 7-11-99 19:03 |