10 Amazing Things to do in Haworth Village
Haworth Village is located on a hill in Yorkshire and is tucked away amid the breathtaking South Pennines.
It’s hardly surprising that the picturesque location, which has wild and jagged edges and produced English literature’s most famous female writer siblings, the Brontë sisters, has inspired some moving literature works.
However, Haworth offers more than just Wuthering Heights, including a picture-perfect high street and a taste of bygone village life.
Natural features and structures connected to the sisters can be found across Haworth, including the dark, windswept moors outside the city.
The Brontë Country environment is traversed by the heritage Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which stops at picture-perfect stations that have been untouched for decades.
Therefore, Haworth has a lot going on right now, whether you want to visit cosy pubs, local art, beautiful parks, or take a ride on a steam train.
Things to do in Haworth Village
In west Yorkshire, there are a plethora of possibilities for a day of fun. Haworth should be included in your itinerary if you prefer seeing less well-known and congested locations.
Despite being a little community close to Bradford, Haworth has several wonderful attractions.
Driving to Haworth shouldn’t be a problem for you if this is the case. Stopping at picturesque locations allows you to capture the drive’s romance while also admiring the classic homes you pass.
Since it is a heritage line, there are numerous places along the route where you can get off, including Oakworth, where the Railway Children was filmed.
1. Brontë Parsonage Museum
In 1893 and 1895, respectively, the Bronte Society and the Bronte Parsonage Museum were founded. Since that time, the various proprietors of Bronte Parsonage have gathered, lent, and purchased authentic papers and objects.
Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Bronte were raised in the Parsonage along with their brother Bramwell and their parents.
Their father presided over local members at Haworth’s church. You may walk in the sisters’ footsteps by visiting the Bronte Parsonage, where some of the most well-known pieces of British literature were first published.
You’ll always find something to surprise you because the collection is so extensive that the room displays are changed throughout the year.
2. Brontë Waterfall
A charming waterfall in a little rocky dale lies just under three miles from Haworth. It is best to see it after a period of severe rain, when, as Charlotte Bronte wrote in 1854, ” is a magnificent stream racing over the rocks.”
The Bronte Bridge, a famous stone bridge over South Dean Beck that was destroyed by flooding in 1989 but rapidly rebuilt, is located at the base of the waterfall, which was a favourite of all three sisters.
3. Central Park
You can continue your stroll through this nine-acre park that was designed in 1929 at the bottom of the main street.
Central Park annually awarded the Green Flag and features a walk winding past well-maintained lawns, shrubberies, and formal flowerbeds are situated on a steep slope with a lovely view of the valley.
The bowling green and tennis courts are from the 1930s, although the original bandstand vanished in the 1970s and was replaced in the 2010s.
4. Keighley and Haworth Railway Station
This five-mile historic railway, which was formerly a part of the Midland Railway and began serving the Worth Valley’s communities and mills in the 1880s, features a station in Haworth.
The line was eventually extended to Haworth after a civil engineer who had gone to the area to honour Charlotte Bronte discovered no railway.
The lovely Oakworth Station, which appears in the 1970 children’s classic The Railway Children, gives the railroad further cultural connections.
The Loco Museum and Workshop, located in a former Midland Railway goods warehouse, is further along the line in Ingrown.
5. East Riddlesden Hall
East Riddlesden Hall, is a famous manor mansion with parkland meadows that are known to descend to the river. The hall, as it is now, dates to 1642 when it was expanded by a wealthy clothier.
6. Hardcastle Crags
Hardcastle Crags, a narrow, wooded valley eight miles south of Haworth, is a worthwhile excursion.
The National Trust looks after this site, which contains upland meadows that sweep to a gorge where the river Hebden cascades over moss-covered rocks. The Gibson Mill, built in the early 1800s, is the only man-made landmark in the valley.
This former cotton mill, which was powered by the river, has been transformed into a live museum of alternative energy.
7. Top Withens
The abandoned ruin of an old farmhouse may be seen above Haworth, a little distance from the waterfall along the Bronte Way.
The home would have looked very different 170 years ago, so this is improbable, but the windswept moorland scene at least evokes the essence of Wuthering Heights.
The Brontë Society put up a plaque here in 1964 to address the numerous inquiries from visitors, rejecting any direct connections to the novel but speculating that she may have had these moors in mind when choosing a setting for the heights.
8. Main Street
The beautiful, sett-paved high street in Haworth winds down the hill from the church to the city park without any traffic. The moors on the other shore of the Worth Valley rise behind the masonry homes lining the street.
Independent shops selling antiques, vintage apparel, musical instruments, art supplies, and speciality cuisine, together with a few art galleries, pubs, and tearooms, along the street in Haworth. There are no large national chains to be found here.
9. St Michael and All Angels Church
Visit St. Michael and All Angels Church to get the true vibe of this place. As the parish priest for Haworth and the father of the Bronte family, Patrick would conduct services at the church located behind the house.
The Bronte children and Patrick Bronte are the subjects of a modest exhibition there, which is a lovely and serene location to visit during the day.
10. Brontë Trail
Escaping the hamlet and heading to Haworth Moor is another of the top Bronte things to do in Haworth. The Bronte sisters’ renowned Gothic books and poetry were inspired by the sceneries in Bronte Country, where you may genuinely experience it.
You can follow the Bronte Trail from the Bronte Parsonage Museum to Peniston Hill Country Park, the Bronte Waterfall, and ultimately Top Withens, which served as the inspiration for Wuthering Heights.
The Bronte sisters would have followed this path exactly as they left their home to explore the surrounding area. Although you can easily self-guide, the museum does inspire.
Final Thoughts
The sisters are considered to have drawn inspiration for their most well-known literary works from a number of the houses and locations in Haworth, where they had links.
Visit the church where their father served, their former parsonage, and even the moorland that inspired Wuthering Heights! Therefore, Haworth Village has a lot to explore for everyone