Churches and other places of believe in the time of the bronte family in Haworth I

brontesremembered

St Michael and All Angels

In 1742 William Grimshaw, who was a close friend of John Wesley, became curate at Haworth. He was an enthusiastic and hard working curate, preaching as many as 30 times a week. He was also not averse to leaving his services and driving men out of the many public houses at the top of Haworth to listen to his long sermons. Haworth legend says that he even used a whip in order to encourage people out of the pubs into the church. Grimshaw attracted huge congregations with up to 500 communicants and in 1755 the church was enlarged to accommodate the many people who wanted to attend.

In 1820 Patrick Bronte accepted to living of Haworth and moved to the Parsonage with his family. He was a conscientious parish priest who walked many miles a day to tend to his large flock in the neighbouring villages as at the time many people would have come to the services in Haworth from the nearby villages. He baptised an average of 290 people per year, but due to the high mortality rate and the fact that the average life expectancy was just 22 years of age with 40% of children dying before the age of 6, Bronte also performed over 100 funerals per year. There are estimated to be 42,000 burials in the graveyard, many of the graves from the time of the Bronte family hold entire families including a number of infants.
In 1845 Arthur Bell Nicholls, who would later marry Charlotte Bronte, arrived in Haworth. He was appointed as a curate, and due to Patrick’s failing eyesight he soon took over the bulk of the official church duties. Patrick Bronte died in 1861 at the age of 84, having outlived his entire family and having served the Parish of Haworth for 41 years. He is still the longest serving incumbent of Haworth Parish Church. Read more: haworthchurch

Hall Green Baptist Church

The village of Haworth was a major centre of the 18th Century Evangelical Methodist Revival. The Wesley Brothers, Henry Venn and John Newton came to Haworth to preach along with the local Anglican minister, William Grimshaw.
The impact of the revival saw thousands of people from Haworth and the surrounding areas being transformed by the message that they heard. Among those affected by the Gospel ministry in the village were a group of Baptists who initially met some 10 miles away in the village of Sutton-in-Craven. Encouraged by Grimshaw, the Baptists began to meet in Haworth in 1752 at West Lane.
By 1785 some of the Baptists had begun to meet in the barn at the bottom of Brow Road in Haworth. In doing so they began to become established as an integral part of the village community.
The barn was convenient in that it was adjacent to the premises of local mill owner and Baptist John Greenwood as well as being near to Bridgehouse Beck, which was most likely used by the Baptists for the total immersion baptism of believers. hallgreenchapel

The Masonic Lodge of the Three Graces

Haworth itself is composed of the Main Street, plus cobbled roads lined with 18th and 19th century stone cottages.

“Lodge Street, leading off Main Street, takes its name from the fact that meetings of the Masonic Lodge of the Three Graces, to which Branwell was initiated in 1836, took place here,” writes Dinsdale in regards to the photo above. “The house facing was the home of William Wood, joiner and cabinet maker. The blocked-up doorway formerly led to his workshop on the second floor.”
masonic