It seems that only Shakespeare himself is held in higher esteem than the beloved Brontë sisters – Emily, Anne and Charlotte – judging by the 8 million visitors a year who trudge up the hill from the train station to pay their respects at the handsome parsonage where the literary classics Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were penned.
Not surprisingly, the whole village is given over to Brontë-linked tourism, but even without the literary associations Haworth is still worth a visit, though you’ll be hard pushed not to be overwhelmed by the cottage industry that has grown up around the Brontës and their wonderful creations.
Top Things to See in Haworth
Haworth Parish Church
Your first stop in Haworth should be the parish church, a lovely old place of worship built in the late 19th century on the site of the older church that the Brontë sisters knew, which was demolished in 1879. In the surrounding churchyard, gravestones are covered in moss or pushed to one side by gnarled tree roots, giving the place a tremendous feeling of age.
Brontë Parsonage Museum
Set in a pretty garden overlooking the church and graveyard, the house where the Brontë family lived from 1820 to 1861 is now a museum. The rooms are meticulously furnished and decorated exactly as they were in the Brontë era, including Charlotte’s bedroom, her clothes and her writing paraphernalia. There’s also an informative exhibition, which includes the fascinating miniature books the Brontës wrote as children.