England 2019: The Bronte Sisters Home

I have not yet finished my posts of my trip to England back in August. I still have a lot to share!

One of my goals of this trip was a visit to the home of the Bronte sisters. These ladies, you may remember, were the early gothic novel writers; they also wrote poetry. Their home was in Yorkshire, in a little town called Haworth. Their home and the adjacent church and cemetery have been preserved, and these can be toured; there is also a new museum attached to the Bronte home.

I did not remember prior to our visit that Emily and Charlotte Bronte also had a sister named Anne and a brother, Branwell. Two other sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died before reaching their teens at a school that later became the "Lowood" school in Jane Eyer. The surviving children resided in the parsonage with their father Patrick who was the pastor of the church; their mother died when they were still quite young.

None of the Bronte children lived to be 40 years old; the reason offered for the deaths of Anne, Emily and Charlotte by the tour guide we spoke with was that the very large and overcrowded cemetery was uphill from their home--and from their drinking water supply. Their father Patrick eventually figured out that it was the water that was to blame, and he was instrumental in spearheading efforts to supply clean water for Haworth. Branwell also died youmg, at just 31; he was an addict to laudunum and was an alcoholic, and succumbed to tuberculosis. He was an accomplished artist and poet in his own right, but his weaknesses proved to be his undoing.

Emily Bronte died in 1848 at 30 years of age; Anne died in 1849 at 29. Charlotte was the only one of the sisters to marry. She married late in life to a curate at the church, but died just a year after her marriage, at age 39.

Let's take a photo tour of Hawaorth, the church, and the Bronte home:

The town is on some VERY steep hills.

Plenty of shops for those interested.

And restaurants! We got lucky as far as parking, and somehow managed to find a lot only a block or so from the historic area of the town. We ate here, as I recall.

This alley leads to the church and Bronte home.

Inside the church.

The sisters' gaves are actually under this church, which was restored and enlarged some time after their deaths. I suppose no one realized back then how famous they would become?

The church as seen from the parsonage.

In the parsonage garden. It was a delightful spot.

The parsonage. Quite large and lovely.

This is the front room where the sisters did their writing. That is the same table, and most of the furnishings here belonged to the family.

I could not believe that I was looking at the actual table where these two favorite authors of mine once wrote and brainstormed.

In the kitchen. Note the drying racks above. Pretty efficient use of the high ceilings.

I believe this was Branwells's room.

This, the only verified portrait of the sisters, was painted by their brother Branwell. This is the original; there are many restored prints of it that I have seen.

I cannot remember now whose dress this was. It may have been Charlotte's wedding dress.

Branwell's bedroom.

He seems to have been quite messy!

More photos of the garden.

This photo doesn't do just to the view that sweeps out over the town.

This is part of the museum.

That very crowded graveyard.

 
A bulls-eye glass window we passed on our way back to the car.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.