Come visit us, Bronte buffs urged

From the Telegraph & Argus, first published Thursday 3rd Mar 2005.

A curate hopes to establish the ancient church where the Bronte sisters were baptised as a tourist attraction.

The Reverend Christine Shedd feels the derelict chapel in Thornton where Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte were christ-ened is sidelined in favour of Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage where they lived.

But now she hopes to tempt people to the site and its ancient graveyard which over the last two years have been cleared up.

The chapel, where the sisters' father Patrick Bronte was Perpetual Curate between 1815 and 1820, has no roof. But it has been made safe and still has the remains of the bell tower.

Some of the graves in the closed cemetery date back to the 17th century.

On Easter Monday, March 28, the vicar of St James Church, Thornton, the Reverend Bill Green, is to lead an open-air sunrise service among the ruins.

The chapel, across the road from the "new" St James which was built in 1872, was restored by Patrick Bronte who built a vestry and re-hung the 17th century bell.

He baptised most of his children there in the 17th century stone font which takes pride of place in a Bronte exhibition in the "new" church.

"This village is an important part of the Bronte heritage," said Mrs Shedd. "We hope this will attract visitors.

"Thornton should be promoted as part of the Bronte trail. If the three sisters hadn't been born here they wouldn't have gone to Haworth."

Mr Green said: "Too often people drive past here on their way to Haworth and say `The Brontes were born somewhere up there.' They should come and see what we have. I can see why people are attracted to Haworth and the Parsonage - it has been marketed better than Thornton."

In addition to the font, the exhibition includes the ancient bell cast in 1664 and copies of the baptism certificates for Charlotte (born June 29, 1816, died 1855), her brother Branwell (born July 23, 1817, died 1848), Emily (born August 26, 1818, died 1848) and Anne (born March 25 1820, died 1849). The original baptism certificates are kept for safe keeping by the West Yorkshire Archive Service.

The house where the family lived can still be seen in Market Street.

St James Church is open every third Saturday in the month, 10am to noon, for a book sale and the exhibition.

Archive Home