Top Withens
High on Haworth Moor, near the Pennine Way, this is the site of an Elizabethan farmhouse, that is now a ruin and said by Ellen Nussey (friend to the Brontë sisters) to be the original site for Wuthering Heights. The word ‘withens’ shares its origins with the word ‘wuther’: a raging wind.
Ponden Hall (Wildfell Hall/Thrushcross Grange)
Home to the Heaton family from 1513, and rebuilt in 1801, as the date of the lintel declares. It is also the date at the start of the novel Wuthering Heights. It has been said to be a stopping place for the Brontë children on their walks across the moors. They took shelter there in 1824 from the dramatic bog burst, that inspired Emily Brontë to write one of her most famous poems, ‘High Waving Heather’. Many think it inspired Anne Brontë’s Wildfell Hall, and also Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. The exterior may well have inspired Thrushcross Grange, and the box bed in one of the bedrooms, may have inspired the one that was slept in by Mr Lockwood at the start of the novel, when he is visited by Cathy’s ghost.
Ponden Kirk (Penistone Crag)
An outcrop of rock at the head of Ponden Clough, on the moors above Stanbury, situated between Top Withens and Ponden Hall, and said to be the inspiration for Penistone Crags, the rocky outcrop on the summit of the moors between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange in Emily’s novel, that is a favourite site for Cathy and Heathcliff.
Crow Hill (Bog burst crater)
On 2 September 1824, Branwell, Emily and Anne took a walk with their servants, over the moor towards Crow Hill, where they witnessed the bog beneath Crow Hill burst dramatically, causing a landslip and flooding. Their father, Patrick, heard the explosion in the parsonage, some four or five miles away and ran out to find his children. A seven-foot-high torrent of mud, peat and water swept down the valley from Crow Hill towards Ponden. Fortunately, the children were able to take refuge at Ponden Hall.
Wycoller Hall (Ferndean Manor)
A 16th century house in the village of Wycoller, about eight miles from Haworth, said to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. It is now a ruin.
Brontë Falls
About a mile south-west of Stanbury, and close to Top Withens, this waterfall on the South Dean Beck, was a favourite spot of the Brontës.
Brontë Bridge
Below the falls, is an old stone bridge across the beck which is commonly known as Brontë Bridge.
Penistone Hill (another contender for Penistone Crag)
A five-minute walk from the Parsonage, Penistone Hill is now a Country Park and a popular tourist attraction. It was, during the time of the Brontës, a working quarry which provided stone for many local buildings. Its name derives from a gambling game called Gamepenny Stone, popular with the quarry workers. In 2016 a replica of the parsonage was built here on the top carpark, for the BBC film, To Walk Invisible.
Brontë Birthplace, Thornton
In May 1815, Revd Patrick Brontë was appointed perpetual curate of Thornton and moved his family to the parsonage on Market Street, close to the church that is now known as ‘The Old Bell Chapel’. They lived there until their move to Haworth in April 1820. It is where Charlotte (1816), Branwell (1817), Emily (1818) and Anne (1820) were all born. It is now the site of the first Brontë Stone, a tribute to Charlotte Brontë written by Carol Ann Duffy, the then Poet Laurette.
The Brontë Stones
Four stones positioned in the landscape between Thornton and Haworth, to mark the four Brontë siblings who survived childhood and became published writers. The project was created and curated by writer Michael Stewart, in collaboration with The Bradford Literature Festival in 2018. The first stone is a tribute to Charlotte, written by the then Poet Laurette, Carol Ann Duffy and is situated in the outside wall of the Brontë