Yorkshire Churches

A new book with Brontë-related content:

Yorkshire Churches Through Time
Alan Whitworth
Amberley Publishing
ISBN 9781445606675

Yorkshire is a county famed for a great sense of heritage, with countless churches and chapels as well as ancient ruins full of religious importance just waiting to be discovered.
Alan Whitworth's carefully selected images reveal how these iconic buildings have changed over time and how their existence has been essential to the sense of community life.
Used for weddings and funerals as well as for Sundays, churches witnessed the high days and holidays of every village in England over the years. Their importance to village life is emphasised here, as the full colour images reveal their history and provide us with a tantalising peep into the past.

The book includes of course, St Michael's in Haworth. The Telegraph & Argus adds:

Packed with information and carefully-selected images, the book is an alphabetical journey around the churches and chapels of Yorkshire.
Each of those featured is pictured as it is today, and how it looked in the past.
St Michael in Haworth would not be recognised today by the village’s most famous one-time residents, the Brontë family. It is built on an entirely different plan to the old church.
“Nevertheless,” writes the author, “It is a place of pilgrimage for all Brontë lovers, for the Reverend Patrick Brontë – father of the literary sisters – was clergyman from 1820 to 1861.
“A brass plate near the chancel screen marks the site of the Brontë vault. A marble tablet in the chapel records the names of all the family, but Anne was buried alone at Scarborough where she died.”
Patrick Brontë’s previous post as incumbent at St James’s in Thornton also features, with descriptions as to how the church was repaired in his day.
“The Revd Brontë had erected an octagonal cupola and the ‘old’ bell replaced inside, which led to the local name of ‘owd bell chapel’”, writes Alan.
The Grade ll-listed ruins of the old chapel of St James stand in the redundant graveyard across from the present parish church. (Helen Mead)