The Brontë Country is a name given to an area of south Pennine hills west of Leeds/Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The name comes from the Brontë sisters, who wrote such literary classics as Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë), Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë) and while living in the area. The geology of the Brontë country is mainly gritstone. There are several places of rugged natural beauty and historical interest. The area includes the village of Haworth, where the Brontë sisters lived, and where the Brontë Parsonage Museum is located. Top Withens is said to have been the inspiration for Wuthering Heights. There is a historic factory outlet called Ponden Mill near Ponden Hall ('Thrushcross Grange' in Wuthering Heights) about half a mile outside Stanbury. Thornton, on the outskirts of Bradford, is the birthplace of the Brontë sisters and their brother Branwell (their father was rector of Thornton church). The house where they were born still exists as the Brontë Birthplace and is open to visitors by appointment. Other places of interest from the Brontë sisters' novels include Oakwell Hall (Fieldhead in Shirley), Red House (Briarmains in Shirley), Gawthorpe Hall and Wycoller (Ferndean Manor in Jane Eyre).
See also
- Bingley
- Bradford
- Brontë waterfall
- Gawthorpe Hall
- Haworth
- Keighley
- Leeds
- Lumbfoot
- Oakwell Hall
- Oakworth
- Red House
- Saltaire
- Shipley
- Skipton
- Stanbury
- Thornton
- Wycoller
