Brontë Country Area

Address: Brontë Parsonage Museum, Church Street, Haworth, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD22 8DR, United Kingdom

Website: https://www.bronte.org.uk

Hours: Region (open) - Brontë Parsonage Museum: Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, closed Mondays (check website before visiting)

Brontë Country is the cultural landscape around the village of Haworth in West Yorkshire, England, known for its strong associations with the Brontë sisters and the moorland settings that inspired their novels. The area is internationally linked to 19th-century English literature.

The village of Haworth contains the principal Brontë-related sites and attracts literary tourism, walking groups, and museum visitors. The surrounding moorland features open heather moors and peatland that are commonly walked by visitors following routes tied to the sisters’ lives and fiction.

The area gained literary significance in the 19th century as the home of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, who drew on the nearby moors and local life in their novels. Haworth Parsonage was the family home and later became the focus for preservation of their manuscripts and personal effects.

Brontë Country is set on the South Pennines moorland in West Yorkshire, centered on the village of Haworth and its immediate upland surroundings, within the historic textile landscape of northern England.

• Best time to walk: Best walking conditions are usually in late spring through early autumn when moor paths are drier and more accessible.
• Practical tip: The area combines village streets and upland moorland, so stout footwear is recommended for moor walks that can be boggy in wet weather.

What to See#

• Brontë Parsonage Museum: Located in the village of Haworth, the former parsonage served as the Brontë family home during the 19th century and today houses the main museum dedicated to the sisters’ lives and manuscripts.
• Top Withens: A ruined farmhouse on the surrounding moors long associated with literary tradition and visitors’ walks, often linked in guidebooks with Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.

Haworth is about 12 miles (19 km) west of Keighley. Trains to Keighley from Leeds and Bradford connect with local buses (Brontë Country Shuttle or Keighley bus services) or a 20-minute taxi to Haworth. By car, follow the A629 then local lanes into the village; parking is available at the Victorian village centre and near the Parsonage Museum.

• Start at Haworth and follow the Moorland Walk toward Top Withens; weather changes rapidly - bring a waterproof layer.
• Visit midweek in late autumn for the atmosphere: low light, saturated peat, and fewer tour groups.
• Spend time at the Brontë Parsonage Museum and read the ledger of names and dates - it clarifies how intimately the parsonage and the moors were entangled.