"Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."

In 1820 Patrick Brontë was appointed perpetual curate of St Michael and All Angels, Haworth and the Brontë family moved into the Parsonage, which was to be their home for the rest of their lives. Patrick valued education and strove throughout his life to provide education for the poor, and in particular, poor children.

This led to his campaign for the establishment of a National Sunday School in Haworth.

In 1831 he obtained a grant of £80 from the National School Society towards building a Sunday school in Haworth, the Church Lands Trust having given the land on the north side of Church Street (then Parsonage Lane) for the purpose. The remaining funds required were raised by public subscription.These funds provided the money needed for the construction of what is now the oldest part of the building.

It was in 1844 that the new day school was opened with Ebenezer Rand the first master. The pupils at the day school paid 2d a week and were provided with slates and pencils. That the school was a success there is no doubt, with 160 pupils per week registered on its books. When Ebenezer Rand married, his wife took charge of the female pupils and classes were also made available in the evenings so that children working in the factories could attend. It is known that Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell all taught at the school.

When Arthur Bell Nicholls became Patrick Brontë’s curate in 1845 he took over responsibility for the school, a role he undertook with great vigour until 1853. During this time funds were raised for the first of two gabled extensions at the westerly end of the building, completed in 1851. In 1853 the building hosted Nicholl’s presentation and later following his marriage to Charlotte Brontë, a celebratory afternoon tea for 500 local guests. http://www.haworthchurch.co.uk/old-school-room

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