Haworth, England -- Home of the Brontes
 
For those of you viewing the following photos:

I have/had been reading about the Bronte family since 1997, and
although I have been a Bronte Society member for several years,
this was my first trip to Haworth.
The experience of seeing this historical site, the stories I had read,
and the dream of traveling to Haworth some day and then finally being there --
was very overwhelming. These photos are displayed in order, as I ventured to find
the Bronte Parsonage on my first day in the Haworth area.

Also please note: photos are copyrighted.
 

Walking up to find the Parsonage
from the Ashmount Bed&Breakfast on Mytholmes Lane
and THERE -- is St. Michael's Tower!

First sign indicating Bronte Parsonage


Turning left and heading down Main Street
towards the Parsonage
Heading down Main Street, and there it is ahead: Branwell's Black Bull !

This Inn was frequented by Patrick Branwell Bronte from 1827 to 1848, the only son of Rev. Patrick Bronte, incumbent of Haworth from 1810 to 1861. In 1838, he was made secretary of the Freemason's Lodge at Three Graces number 408 which met at this Inn.

My shock: how close the Black Bull is to the church! And the parsonage is
right behind the church?! Branwell didn't have far to go to get home after a few drinks.

Up the stairs past Black Bull, toward St. Michael's and making a left turn.....


 


First sign of cemetery heading past St. Michael's on the left.....

Walkway to the left up path toward cemetery...where is Parsonage?


GASP: There it is! First Sight of the Bronte House
 

The Sunday School is in front of the church tower on the right
 
Now heading straight through cemetery - Parsonage would be to the left


I've just passed St. Michael's Tower and
am now heading up past the street markers up hill
towards the Parsonage
Sunday School is directly on my right and I notice this sign as I head towards the Parsonage

Bronte Parsonage Museum Sign

The Bronte Parsonage
 
 


I sat on this bench for 10 minutes before going in, and thought about years
of reading about this family -- and here is where it all happened....
 
As the Parsonage is open to the public, photos are prohibited inside. My thoughts after spending my first hour there was how small the rooms were; and how the kitchen had service bells on the wall for each room -- when one could have just easily have walked across the hallway. I guess it was *proper* to have servants, even in such a small setting. I walked upstairs and went into Branwell's room, which was across the hallway from Charlotte's. The one wall has been removed and you now enter into the Bronte Museum of artifacts. As you go down the staircase to exit, you enter the Bronte Museum gift shop.
   

Looking out the window of the gift shop in the back, I noticed the original wall where an exterior staircase was originally part of the house

This was rather startling in the garden --
the heights of each sister seems to be correct, but
I was taken aback by the figure of Emily in the center.
I do not know who the sculptor was.

Exiting the gift shop
behind the Bronte Parsonage, looking
back towards St. Michael's

 



Left side of the Parsonage from the cemetery
 
 

The original site in the stone fence, of a gate
through which the Bronte members were taken from the house, to St. Michael's,
towards their final rest in the vault below St. Michael's.
   
   
   
Before heading to the Moors, and while in the cemetery, I was struck by the annoying sound of black birds squawking in the trees overhead. It was the eeriness of the moment
and somehow felt like I was experiencing the sadness of so many who had passed here.
 
 
 
 

The Moors are just beyond that wall (the Parsonage would be to the right)

Tabitha Ackroyd's Grave
 


Martha Brown (and family's) Gravesite
 

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