It is widely known that sisters Charlotte, Anne and Emily Brontë lived in Haworth, West Yorkshire, with their brother Branwell. Their parsonage home, adjacent to the church where their father, Patrick, preached is now a world-class museum dedicated to preserving the Brontës’ artefacts and works.
Stay at Holdsworth House in Halifax and you’ll have the perfect base from which to explore.
Here are our recommendations of Bronte attractions to enhance any literary tour:
1. The Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth
A 20-minute car ride from Holdsworth House takes you across rolling landscapes to the beautiful town of Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Feel goosebumps as you wander their halls and see their writing desks, jotters, drawings, paintings, clothes and artefacts. In Haworth, you’ll find plenty of coffee shops, the Black Bull pub that was frequented by Branwell, and the famous cobbled street that featured in the Tour de France Grand Départ when it came to Yorkshire (N.B. Brontë Parsonage closed each January).
2. ‘To Walk Invisible’ Film Location
Filming of Sally Wainwright’s To Walk Invisible (2016 Brontë drama, written for the BBC) took place on Penistone Hill – half a mile from Haworth (around 20 minutes’ drive from Holdsworth House). Out on the moors, Penistone Hill makes a wonderful visit if you’re a walking enthusiast; it boasts 179 acres of undulating grass and heather moorland with many rough paths and breathtaking views. You’ll see the actual landscapes the Brontë sisters wrote about and cast your eyes where theirs once fell.
To Walk Invisible was a drama about the lives of the Brontë sisters and their brother Branwell. It took viewers on an unmissable journey through the Brontës’ everyday struggles – as Emily, Anne and Charlotte attempted to get their works published under male pseudonyms.
3. Top Withens – Haworth Moors
Thought to be the most likely inspiration for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights house. A lonely farmhouse (now ruins) that you can walk to from Haworth along the well-marked path which runs past the Brontë Waterfall. For more description and directions, [click here].
4. The Brontë Waterfall
A beautiful walk from the top of Haworth village takes you along a well signposted and well cared-for path to the place the Brontës used to walk themselves, sit and paint. It’s an idyllic summer walk with dramatic scenery to take in. There’s a little footbridge crossing the stream, which leads you up the steep climb to Top Withens. Or just turn back the way you came for a pleasing 2–3 hour walk. Sturdy walking boots recommended. N.B. The path does get a little tricky when nearing the stream bridge.
5. The Lord Nelson Pub, Luddenden
Just five miles from Holdsworth House, this was the drinking place of Branwell whilst he was station master at Luddenden Foot Railway Station and where he met with the Luddenden Reading Society. Here you’ll get another good Yorkshire pint in a lovely country setting.
Did you know…
Elizabeth Wadsworth who owned and lived at Holdsworth House in the 1800s was a diarist. Her daily jottings are on loan at Halifax Central Library. Wadsworth once wrote about a trip to Haworth to listen to a church sermon by vicar Mr Heap. She wrote, ‘the people there seemed inclined to have Mr Brunty’ (referring to Patrick Bronte). Read more about the hotel history and Elizabeth Wadsworth here.
Bronte Waterfalls near Haworth
Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth
Howarth, home of The Brontes
Please check opening times before your travel.
