Our core workshop looks at the history of the Brontës and the societal constraints they had to overcome to be successful authors.  It also has a PSHE focus with activities looking at self-confidence, values, aspirations and resilience. How did life and society affect the Brontës and do these things still affect us in the same way? 

The workshop includes a tour of the house and artefact handling. Students will be able to look at real artefacts that will help them to understand and relate to the realities of living in the nineteenth century.

There will also be an opportunity for students to write their own aspirations and ambitions in our ‘Be More Brontë’ book, this will be kept at the Birthplace for them to come back and look it in the future.

This workshop focusses on the world around the Brontë sisters and how it shaped the themes of their novels. Charlotte, Emily and Anne drew on not just their own personal experiences but also the political and social landscape around them. Understanding this will help students to understand why their novels were groundbreaking and how they have stood the test of time to be as relevant today as they were 150 years ago.

This workshop will support students studying Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and the Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Gothic Bell Chapel

Students will spend time in the ruins of the Bell Chapel and its surrounding cemetery They will be able to look at pictures of how it looked around the time the Brontë family were here and its place in the landscape. After taking in the atmosphere students will then come back to the birthplace and write a poem about any aspect of the chapel be it past or present.

Patrick’s Reflection

This workshop focuses on Patrick Brontë, father of Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne. He described his 5 years in Thornton as ‘the happiest of my life’. Students will explore the reasons for this, looking at why the family came to Thornton, the birth of the children, the community around them and the tragedy that would follow in Haworth. Students can then write a diary entry from Patrick in his later years reflecting back on the family’s life in Thornton.