A History of Haworth

Carnegie Publishing publishes this December A History of Haworth from earliest times by Michael Baumber:

A History of Haworth from earliest times
Michael Baumber
Carnegie Publishing

Hardback ISBN: 978-1-85936-156-6

Illustrations: 170 photographs and maps

Publication date: 15 December 2009

Haworth village and its parsonage will for ever be linked inextricably with one nineteenth-century literary family. For it was here, in 1821, that Patrick Brontë, an Irish Anglican clergyman, came from Thornton to be curate. He brought his three young daughters and son, and the sisters grew up to become quite the most remarkable literary phenomenon of the century. As children in Haworth they knew the streets and the houses, the moors and the people.
Indeed, as this excellent book reveals, many of the characters in the Brontë novels were based upon real Haworth folk – some of whom recognised themselves in the women’s novels and were not at all happy with how they had been portrayed – while the moors above the village figure prominently and famously as the haunt of the brooding Heathcliff in Emily’s greatest work Wuthering Heights.
Yet, as Michael Baumber’s highly readable A history of Haworth from earliest times shows, there is so much more to the story of Haworth. From the arrival to the area of the first settlers 15,000 years ago, the author narrates a long and fascinating history, through the Norman and medieval periods, on to the Civil Wars and the Industrial Revolution.
The book is particularly strong on the textile industry, which became such a dominant force in the district’s economy, and was such an important and all-consuming fact of life in early Victorian Haworth. From exactly this period, of course, Haworth’s history is dominated by that of the Brontës, and the author skilfully weaves the two together, throwing important new light on both.
Also covering the hamlets of Oxenhope and Stanbury, the book is fully illustrated, with many rare old photographs, and offers many insights into the village and also into its occasionally ambivalent relationship with its most famous literary residents.

The Telegraph & Argus has an article about the release of the book:

A new book relates Haworth's history from prehistoric times to its modern-day tourist fame.
A History of Haworth: from Earliest Times has been written by local historian Michael Baumber.
He focuses on both Haworth and the hamlets of Near and Far Oxenhope and Stanbury.
The £20 hardback has 352 pages and pictures more the 150 illustrations including rare old photographs.
It is released today (December 10) by Carnegie Publishing Ltd of Lancaster.
A Carnegie spokesman said the "highly readable" book showed that Haworth's history stretched back millennia.
He said the village was about more than just the Bronte family.
He said: "The book offers intriguing new insights into the village, its famous literary residents, and it's less well-known older past.
"There has never been a more comprehensive history of Haworth and this excellent book is certain to be a classic for many years to come.
"Bronte fans will naturally find much of interest but the strength of Haworth: a History lies in the author's lively narrative that compares and contrasts Haworth's development with that of its neighbours. (David Knights)

EDIT: And Keighley News also reports its release.

Categories: Books, Haworth