Brontë table is now back at the Parsonage. “It was one of the most significant occasions during all my time at the parsonage.”

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The Yorkshire Post reports that the Brontë table is now back at the Parsonage.

The dining table where the Brontë sisters sat to write some of their greatest works has returned to its Yorkshire home to stay. Staff at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth were on hand yesterday (Thurs) to welcome the artefact which arrived unscathed and on time - despite the extreme weather conditions sweeping the north of England.  Ann Dinsdale, collections manager at the Brontë Parsonage, who has been at the museum for 26 years, said: “It was one of the most significant occasions during all my time at the parsonage.” The table left the parsonage in the sale that took place when Patrick Brontë died in 1861 and returned on loan in 1997 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Jayne Eyre. Thanks to a £580,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), the table where classics such as Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights were written, has been secured by the Brontë Society for future generations to enjoy in its original setting.  Visitors can see the mahogany drop-leaf table from Sunday when the museum reopens.  Brontë Society & Brontë Parsonage Museum spokeswoman, Rebecca Yorke, said: “It arrived amid much excitement and anticipation. Because of the weather we were worried there might be hold ups on its journey. In 2016 we start celebrating the bicentenaries of the birth of the Brontë siblings. This is a really great start to the bicentenary celebrations.”

Documentary showing the 'real' locations of Brontë novels

Further news on the documentary showing the 'real' locations of Brontë novels, as reported by The Telegraph and Argus:
The team behind a documentary revealing the real locations which inspired the Bronteë sisters has offered walking tours to people who are willing to be filmed for the production.
The documentary is being made by Oxenhope resident Oliver Chapman and will present the outcome of research carried out by Ian Howard and Josh Chapman, who is Oliver’s brother.  Mr Howard, who is also from Oxenhope, said that a local theatre group and a school had come forward to take part in the Haworth tour and ultimately be featured in the documentary itself. “The tour will be filmed as part of the documentary we’re making, so everyone should be prepared for the footage to be used on television,” he said.  He said that he did not require very many more people for the tour, though he added that a small number of additional individuals who were willing to participate could still be accommodate.  He said the recent snow had not discouraged him from visiting the remote locations on the moors being filmed as part of the documentary. “No one else goes up there when the weather is like this, so it’s nice to have that solitude,” he said. bronteblog

Ccelebrations

The Telegraph and Argus reports the visit of author Tracy Chevalier to the Brontë Parsonage Museum.
Award-winning author Tracy Chevalier has visited the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth.
The novelist, whose novels include Girl With A Pearl Earring, discussed plans for the forthcoming Brontë bicentenary celebrations.  The celebrations will start in 2016, the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth, and will run until 2020, to mark the births of Emily and Anne.
The museum, which is due to reopen on Sunday after its winter break, said further details of the celebration would be unveiled later in 2015.

January in Haworth photo taken today..

Haworth Brontescapes

 

 

The family dining table where the Bronte sisters wrote some of their classic novels has been saved for the nation.

 

A grant of more than £580,000 has secured the table where the family gathered to write and share ideas, and where books such as Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall were written. 

The table, which bears the marks of use including ink blots, a large candle burn and a small "E" carved on to its surface, was sold after the death of their father Patrick in 1861, remaining in the same family ever since.

Without the grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), which exists to save the most outstanding parts of the UK's national heritage, it would have been sold at public auction but thanks to the money it has now been secured by the Bronte Society.

read more: telegraph

A writing desk and other items from the home of the Bronte sisters.

The desk, which may have been used by Charlotte Bronte to write her novels, were  up for sale as well as her sister Emily's art box and geometry set.

The items belonged to William Law, an avid Bronte collector who bought them from Charlotte's widower, Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls. He even installed metal plaques on them to ensure they were not thrown out or destroyed.

Her paint box and geometry set - inscribed with her initials - would have been one of the few items of entertainment she owned.
Ann Dinsdale, Collections Manager for the Bronte Parsonage Museum, explained: "They are very important pieces, especially anything relating to Emily Bronte.
"Because she was never famous during her own lifetime very few of her personal items or manuscripts were kept and are extremely rare."  Read more: telegraphBronte-sisters-desk

Snow on Top Withens.

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The table is back

Keighley News reports that an important piece of Brontëana has been acquired by the Brontë Society:

The society has bought the simple mahogany drop-leaf table with a grant of £580,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund  The society said the desk was one of the most evocative and significant literary artefacts of the 19th century. The table at which the Brontë sisters wrote was the focus of domestic life in the Brontë household at Haworth Parsonage, and where the siblings gathered to write and discuss their stories, poems, and novels. The table bears the marking of the family’s daily use with ink blots, a large candle burn in the centre, a small letter ‘E’ carved into the surface, and beneath the table are ownership markings, possibly in the hand of Charlotte Brontë’s husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls. 

The table was also featured in an 1837 diary paper sketch by Emily, showing herself and Anne writing at the table with all their papers scattered before them. The table was sold during the sale of the household effects of the Parsonage, which took place after the death of Patrick Brontë in 1861. The table is listed as lot 154 in the hand-written sale catalogue, held at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, which shows that it was purchased by Mr Ogden for the sum of £1-11-0. The Ogdens sold it to another family, within which it has been handed down as an heirloom, before the museum was approached for ownership. bronteblog

Ann Dinsdale, the Collections Manager at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, said: “We are extremely proud and excited to be bringing the Brontës’ table back to its original home.
“It is one of the most important literary artefacts of the 19th century and displaying it in the Parsonage dining room marks a wonderful commencement to our programme of activity marking the forthcoming bicentenaries of the births of the Brontë siblings.”
The table was loaned to the Brontë Parsonage Museum for a short period in 1997 to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
Carole Souter the chief executive of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), said the Brontë sisters were internationally revered for their contribution to English literature.
She said: “Novels which have enthralled millions of readers were imagined and written at this table and seeing it brings to life the creative process behind the famous works.
“NHMF trustees felt it important that it should be saved for the nation so that it can be displayed to the public in its original setting.” 

Heritage minister Ed Vaizey said: “The Brontës’ family dining table has a close connection with some of the most famous English literature written in the 19th century.
“The National Heritage Memorial Fund grant recognises the importance of keeping these literary artefacts on display and it’s wonderful that visitors to the Brontës’ former home in Yorkshire will now be able to enjoy it in its original setting."
The table will be displayed in its original position in the dining room at the Parsonage where it can be viewed by the public from the February 1, when the Brontë Parsonage reopens for the coming season. (David Knights)

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