Small House Where Brontë Sisters Were Born Opens to Visitors
- Editor OGN Daily
- Jun 1
- 2 min read
Each sister would grow up to become a pivotal figure in English literature, with Charlotte writing Jane Eyre, Emily writing Wuthering Heights and Anne writing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights - both written in 1847 - would become two of the most renowned books ever written in English, and the newly renovated Brontë Birthplace in Bradford, England, was the three sisters’ home until 1820.
Now, the house where they were born has been restored and reopened to the public as a museum - and soon-to-be hotel. Earlier this month, Queen Camilla visited the village of Thornton to open the Brontë Birthplace in an official ceremony. After a year and a half of fundraising and renovations, the house is now a functioning educational centre. Come July, its bedrooms will also be open to overnight guests.
After the family left the sisters’ birthplace, the building was repurposed several times. It has served as a butcher’s shop and a cafe, which shuttered during the pandemic. With the building up for grabs, a group of advocates - including journalist Christa Ackroyd and Brontë relative Nigel West - raised the £650,000 (more than $700,000) needed to purchase and renovate it.
“This will be the only place in the world where you can sleep in the same room that the Brontës slept in,” West told The Guardian.
The Haworth parsonage, where the family moved in 1820, already attracts nearly one million visitors each year. The Brontë Birthplace team hopes that those visitors will now add the Thornton house, which is only six miles away, to their itineraries.
In addition to the opening of the Brontë Birthplace, England has recently protected the sweeping Pennine landscapes - that were the inspiration for the sisters - by creating the Bradford Pennine Gateway, connecting eight nature sites across 1,274 hectares. As Emily Brontë once wrote: "Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."
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