The Heritage Open Days (13-22 September) celebrate their 25th anniversary. Some of the of locations have interesting Brontë connections:
The Clergy Daughters’ School, Cowan Bridge
Brontë School House, 2 Brontë Cottages, Cowan Bridge, Lancashire, LA6 2HS
Your opportunity to see inside what was the Clergy Daughters’ School, Cowan Bridge, attended by Charlotte and Emily Brontë 1824-25 and infamously recounted by Charlotte as ‘Lowood School’ in her novel Jane Eyre.
The Clergy Daughters' School, Cowan Bridge, near Kirkby Lonsdale, was established in 1824 by wealthy Evangelical clergyman and landowner Rev. W. Carus Wilson to provide an education at a very low fee to daughters of poorly paid clergymen; girls who would otherwise probably not have received a formal education. Following the early problems at the school, as unfortunately experienced by the Brontës: the bout of “low fever” and the appalling food & hygiene standards of the early housekeeper, the establishment thereafter gained a good reputation and pupil numbers (girls coming from as far afield as Sierra Leone and the West Indies - probably daughters of missionaries) steadily increased up to the maximum capacity of 90 pupils. The school remained in Cowan Bridge until 1833 when it was moved to larger premises in Casterton.
Moving to the present day: part of what remains of the old school is now run as a holiday cottage (Brontë School House) and we are opening the doors for HODs so that everyone can experience that feeling of treading in the footsteps of the Brontë sisters! Having stood empty for 30 years, this part of the property was sensitively renovated in 2009-10 utilising the traditional materials that would have been used in 1760 when the property was originally built. I hope you agree that we have managed to preserve the historical character of this wonderful atmospheric old building and that it retains a very special feeling! Do come and see/feel for yourself!
Opening Times
Sunday 22 September: 10:30 - 17:30
Booking Details
No booking required
Celebration of 900 years of St Peter’s Church
Kirkgate, Birstall, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 9PB
Visits to the tower and ringing chamber.
Display of historical registers documents and artefacts
Demonstration of stone carving
2020 marks 900 years of St Peter's church, and a year of celebration begins at the end of June 2019. The present Grade II* listed building, the fourth stone church to occupy the site, was re-built between 1865 and 1870, incorporating the 15th century tower with its Norman base.
In 1901, Reginald E Frampton, the Pre-Raphaelite artist, was commissioned to paint a mural above the chancel arch. It shows 'Christ in Majesty' surrounded by angels, and it believed to be one of only three surviving religious murals by Frampton.
There are some beautiful stained glass windows, including work by Charles Kempe of Munich, JB Capronnier of Belgium and F X Zettler.
Charlotte Brontë went to school locally: Briarfield Church in her novel Shirley is modelled on St Peter's. Her friend Ellen Nussey is buried in the graveyard. Her tombstone is a 'listed building' in its own right.
Visitors can view old registers not normally available, documents from past centuries and artefacts including ancient stone carvings, medieval grave slabs and pew ends from the 17th century.
Visitors able to negotiate a narrow spiral staircase will be able to climb the tower to the chamber where the bells are rung, and to view the bells themselves.
There will be a demonstration of stone carving and even a chance to have a go.
Opening Times
Friday 20 September: 12 noon -4pm
Saturday 21 September: 10 am - 4pm
Sunday 22 September: 12 noon -4pm
Undercliffe Cemetery Tour - The Bradford Worthies
127 Undercliffe Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD3 0QD
A tour of the Cemetery looking at the history of some of Bradford's Worthies, the leading industrialists and civic leaders, but we will also include a few special people such as Julia Varley and Charlotte Bronte's nurse Nancy De Garrs.
Opening Times
Saturday 21 September: 11 am and 1 pm
St Gabriel’s Church, Stanbury, near HaworthSt Gabriel's Church, Main Street, Stanbury, Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD22 0HB
The nineteenth-century schoolroom built by the Reverend Patrick Bronte and now used as the small church for the village, containing the eighteenth-century pulpit from Haworth Parish Church used by the Rev William Grimshaw and the Rev Patrick Bronte.
Opening Times
Saturday 21 September: 10.00-16.30
Gomersal Moravian Church
Gomersal Moravian Church, Quarry Road, Gomersal, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, BD19 4JB
Grade II listed Church, built in 1751 and altered in the 1860s. Displays about the church history, Bronte links and Moravian traditions. Gomersal and the Great War display. Refreshments and children's activities.
Opening Times
Sunday 15 September: 1300-1600
Whitechapel Church, Cleckheaton
Whitechapel Church, Whitechapel Road, Cleckheaton, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, BD19 6HR
Whitechapel Church has a Norman font, an Ellacombe system of bells, a Hatchment, the only Bronte grave in Kirklees, three WW1 graves including one for two brothers and stained glass window memorials.
Opening Times
Saturday 14 September: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm
Sunday 15 September: 1400 pm to 1630 pm
Wednesday 18 September: 14.00 pm to 16.30 pm
Saturday 21 September: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm
Sunday 22 September: 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm
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