£600,000 'Bronte house' scheme is approved.

PLANS to transform a house with Bronte links into luxury holiday accommodation have received the seal of approval. Proposals for a major refurbishment of the Grade II* listed former Red House museum, at Gomersal, won all-party support at a meeting of Kirklees Council’s cabinet.

Dating back to 1660, the property and grounds are considered an important heritage asset. They are associated with Luddite activities and the Taylor family – particularly Mary Taylor, a writer and early feminist. And the house is revered by Bronte fans. Charlotte – a friend of Mary – was a regular guest at the property in the 1830s and gave it a starring role as Briarmains in her novel, Shirley.

Kirklees Council plans to invest £600,000 in the site to bring the historic house – and a neighbouring cart shed – back into use. Red House operated as a community museum, but falling visitor numbers and rising costs led to its closure in 2016.

A decision to allow the property to be marketed for private sale prompted a petition from Red House Heritage Group in 2019, which resulted in the council’s cabinet agreeing to explore alternative uses for the site which could maintain it in public hands.

Under the new plan, designed to appeal to the luxury tourism market, the house will accommodate ten guests. And once the business is established, it may also host weddings. The cart shed will be split into four self-catering apartments.

Revenue generated from holiday stays is expected to be sufficient to cover the cost of operating the scheme and to enable a series of open days/weekends to take place, ensuring community access to the site.

Senior councillor Graham Turner told cabinet colleagues: “It’s important we recognise this project has been a challenge due to its complexity and its historical links with the Brontes, but I am sure it will be a great success and will pave the way forward on how we deal with similar buildings in the future. I suspect other councils will be keeping a keen eye on this, as it’s groundbreaking for a local authority to develop this type of project.”

Colin Parr, strategic director for environment and climate change, said the scheme would allow the council to retain the property in public ownership without incurring huge operating costs.

thetelegraphandargus

Revival For Charlotte Brontë’s Beloved Red House.

If you’ve followed the blog anne bronte from Nick Holland for a while you may remember a post from a few years ago that included a petition to stop Kirklees council closing the historic Red House in Gomersal, West Yorkshire.

Unfortunately, whilst there was huge public support for the Red House, the council decided to close it anyway, and it’s remained unused, but not unloved, ever since.

The good news is that an enthusiastic group of people are determined that the Red House should re-open. The aim is for the council to lease the building to this community group, after which it could become an important building for Brontë and history buffs and the wider community alike. Its potential really is huge, this historically important building could be a public museum again but it could also be an arts and retreat venue, a place for literary talks and festivals, a wedding venue, as well as a perfectly beautiful host for a wide variety of community groups and events.

Stage one is to convince Kirklees council to let this group address them and present their plans for a Red House revival. Once again, there’s a petition – this time set up by the brilliant Caz Goodwill, as good a friend and advocate as the Red House could hope for. Please take just a moment to click this link to the petition and sign it. It only takes a moment, but do remember to also click the email you’ll receive to confirm your signature.

Mary Taylor

There are many reasons that the Red House is important, many of which can be found in this excellent article by Dr. Stephen Caunce which featured recently in the Huddersfield Examiner. As you’d expect, in today’s blog I’m going to concentrate on just why it’s so important to Brontë lovers. The Red House in Gomersal was for many years the home of Mary Taylor, one of a great trio of friends alongside Charlotte Brontë and Ellen Nussey. They met at Roe Head school at Mirfield, just four miles from Gomersal, the school where Anne Brontë later excelled as a pupil. Charlotte grew very close to Mary Taylor, and to her younger sister Martha, and as well as Mary’s visits to Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte visited them at the Red House. So important was the house to Charlotte that she gave it a central role in her second published novel ‘Shirley’, where it can clearly be identified as Briarmains. Here in the book is Charlotte’s moving introduction to Briarmains and the Yorke family, for which we can read the Red House and the Taylors.

“But if Briar Chapel seemed alive, so also did Briarmains, though certainly the mansion appeared to enjoy a quieter phase of existence than the temple. Some of its windows too were aglow; the lower casements opened upon the lawn; curtains concealed the interior, and partly obscured the ray of the candles which lit it, but they did not entirely muffle the sound of voice and laughter. We are privileged to enter that front door, and to penetrate to the domestic sanctum.

It is not the presence of company which makes Mr. Yorke’s habitation lively, for there is none within it save his own family, and they are assembled in that farthest room to the right, the back parlour.This is the usual sitting-room of an evening. Those windows would be seen by daylight to be of brilliantly-stained glass, purple and amber the predominant hues, glittering round a gravely-tinted medallion in the centre of each, representing the suave head of William Shakespeare, and the serene one of John Milton. Some Canadian views hung on the walls—green forest and blue water scenery—and in the midst of them blazes a night-eruption of Vesuvius; very ardently it glows, contrasted with the cool foam and azure of cataracts, and the dusky depths of woods.

The fire illuminating this room, reader, is such as, if you be a southern, you do not often see burning on the hearth of a private apartment. It is a clear, hot coal fire, heaped high in the ample chimney. Mr. Yorke will have such fires even in warm summer weather. He sits beside it with a book in his hand, a little round stand at his elbow supporting a candle; but he is not reading—he is watching his children. Opposite to him sits his lady—a personage whom I might describe minutely, but I feel no vocation to the task. I see her, though, very plainly before me—a large woman of the gravest aspect, care on her front and on her shoulders, but not overwhelming, inevitable care, rather the sort of voluntary, exemplary cloud and burden people ever carry who deem it their duty to be gloomy. Ah, well-a-day! Mrs. Yorke had that notion, and grave as Saturn she was, morning, noon, and, night; and hard things she thought if any unhappy wight—especially of the female sex—who dared in her presence to show the light of a gay heart on a sunny countenance. In her estimation, to be mirthful was to be profane, to be cheerful was to be frivolous. She drew no distinctions. Yet she was a very good wife, a very careful mother, looked after her children unceasingly, was sincerely attached to her husband; only the worst of it was, if she could have had her will, she would not have permitted him to have any friend in the world beside herself. All his relations were insupportable to her, and she kept them at arm’s length.

Read all: anne bronte

Please sign the petition.

Shirley and the Northern Powerhouse.

From The Telegraph and Argus: Jacqueline Ryder, chairman of the Friends of Red House, said: “This is a very sad time for the Friends. It is particularly disappointing that the council made this decision in the year we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte’s birth. It is not only the end of the museum but also the Friends’ group. However, we are determined to go out on a high, with an extra special Christmas event.”

The Friends are working with staff at the museum to plan the Red House Christmas event which will take place on Sunday, December 11, from noon to 4pm. The house will be dressed for a Victorian-style Christmas and there will be live music and festive refreshments. The Friends group had appealed to the council to allow them to stay open until Christmas so they could host the traditional event one last time. [...]

The process for gathering expressions of interest to take over the running of the buildings will start soon, with an information pack going online before the end of the month. The Council confirmed it expects to make decisions on expressions of interest in the spring. But if nobody from the community is willing to take over the running of the buildings, they will be put up for sale on the open market. Councillor Graham Turner, cabinet member for resources said: “Nobody wants to close museums but we do need to react to these times of austerity and make savings.” (Jo Winrow)

Closure of the Red House Museum scheduled for December 21st.

BBC News features the closure of the Red House Museum scheduled for December 21st.

Kirklees Council said the Dewsbury Museum and Red House closures are part of its museums service reorganisation, which will save £531,000. The council will now see if anyone is willing to take over the running of the building and a decision will be announced next year. However, if no-one comes forward with a viable plan the building may be sold on the open market. Councillor Graham Turner said: "The council did not want to be in this position. Nobody wants to close museums but we do need to react to these times of austerity and make savings.

"I am sorry people will no longer be able to access these museums, but I can assure you we will do everything possible to look after the collections."
He added: "Museums are not just about buildings, it's about using the collections to tell the story of our past and how they influence what we do today."

The thing about the Red House Museum is that it is mostly about the building. If it is eventually sold as private property and turned into flats the whole point of it will be lost. Not to mention the stained glass windows. bronteblog

Red House and Charlotte Bronte

Red House in Gomersal, a village south of Bradford was once the home of Charlotte Brontë's close friend Mary Taylor. This former cloth merchant's residence is beautifully furnished as a family home of the 1830s, from the elegant parlour to the stone flagged kitchens. Charlotte often stayed there in the 1830s and the Taylors appear as the "Yorkes" and the house as "Briarmains" in her novel "Shirley".

Information and photographes of the Red House friendsofredhousegomersal

Red House Museum will close by 31 March 2017

So Kirklees Council voted to close the Red House Museum. Shame on you. No budget adjustment, no austerity fundamentalism can justify to sell your own history.  From The Telegraph and Argus:

A final decision has been taken today to close a museum with strong links to the Brontës amid cuts to the museums and galleries budget in Kirklees.
Red House Museum in Gomersal is one of two museums that will close by the end of March next year at the latest as Kirklees Council centres on retaining three museum venues under its new vision for culture in the district.
The authority’s museums and galleries budget is being cut by half from April next year, and plans were therefore drawn up to restructure the service.
The decision was taken yesterday by the council’s cabinet to close historic Red House, where Charlotte Brontë was a frequent visitor, immortalising the house in her second novel, Shirley, as well as Dewsbury Museum. [...]
Last week, John Thirwell, chairman of the Brontë Society, said it was “concerned and saddened” to learn of the likely closure of Red House, but said it would continue conversations with the authority to explore how the Brontës’ links with the building could be maintained.
But, during yesterday’s meeting, Graham Turner, cabinet member for Creative Kirklees, said the society were “not interested” in taking on the site.
He said: “We have spoken to many organisations in the museums and heritage sector, and no-one has expressed an interest in taking on any of the sites.”
On Red House, he said: “We have spoken to the Brontë Society, they are not interested.”
He said that cuts to Government funding had led to the budget for the museums service being cut by £531,000.
“No-one in this chamber wants to cut the museums service,” he said.
“But, this is not a statutory service, we didn’t have to do a consultation but we went out of our way to engage with the public.
“If anyone has any ideas on how we can save these services, then please speak to us, immediately.” (Rob Lowson)

BBC News reports it as well:

A museum with close links to the Brontës is set to close under plans to restructure museums and galleries in an area of West Yorkshire.
Kirklees Council voted to close Dewsbury Museum and Red House Museum in Gomersal at a cabinet meeting. [...]
Opponents said the Red House Museum building should be protected because of its history and links to the Brontës.
Charlotte Brontë often visited Red House and featured it in her novel Shirley.
As well as an exhibition in honour of the author, the museum, which was once home to a cloth merchant, charts what life was like in the 1830s.
Supporters of Dewsbury Museum, which has recently been renovated, urged officials to keep it open.
The town's museum is the oldest in the district, opening to visitors in 1896.
It features a toy gallery and a recreation of a classroom in the 1940s.
The Labour-led authority said its hands were tied due to austerity measures, and Dewsbury and Red House would close by 31 March 2017.
It said it was willing to hold talks with any group, or interested parties about future uses for the museum buildings.
Both museums have seen a sharp fall in visitors in recent years.
In 2011-12, Red House had 26,665 visitors, compared to 6,679 in 2015/16

March 31 being the anniversary of the death of Charlotte Brontë. bronteblog

Plans to close Red House Museum.

A VOLUNTARY group has said its “worst fears” have been realised after Kirklees Council revealed plans to close an historic house in Gomersal. Red House Museum in Oxford Road has strong links to the Brontë family - Charlotte Brontë was a frequent visitor and immortalised the house in her second novel, Shirley. But Kirklees Council, which is having to make cuts to its budget, has put forward plans to close both Red House and Dewsbury Museum to save money. The buildings would close later this year, after the October half term. Their collections would be either transferred or stored and “appropriate uses” would be found for the buildings, a spokesman for Kirklees Council said.
Jacqueline Ryder, the chairman of the Friends of Red House Museum, said they were saddened by the announcement, especially as they were celebrating the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth this year. She said: “This news confirms our worst fears after months of rumour and speculation.
“Red House is a rare example of a yeoman clothier’s family house and workplace, complete with outbuildings and historic, award-winning gardens. “It was owned and run by the Taylor family for 400 years, who made a substantial contribution to the area’s textile industry. “The family even ran their own bank from Red House for a little while. “Considering the close links with Charlotte Brontë it is very sad that Kirklees Council has made this announcement when we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charlotte’s birth.” The proposals would see Oakwell Hall and Country Park in Birstall remain open. A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “The council is planning to work closely with Friends organisations and other local groups and partners in the development of future services.
“The proposals are in line with the council’s overall response to its financial challenges – strengthening links with local communities, engaging people with key issues and making best use of scarce resources.” A public consultation has begun into the plans and will run until Sunday, July 24.
A spokesman for the Brontë Society said it would be taking part in the consultation, but declined to comment further. There will be consultation sessions at each of Kirklees’ six art galleries and museums, where people can have their say. There will be a session on July 13 at 11am at Oakwell Hall and Country Park and one on July 19 at 6pm at Red House Museum. Alternatively, visit kirkleestalk.org/index.php/get-involved/lets-talk-about-museums/. thetelegraphandargus

The Red House

Red House Museum
 

 

The house of Mary and Martha Taylor, friends of Charlotte Bronte

 

Red House Dining Room with the stained glass windows described by Charlotte Bronte in her novel Shirley.
 

 

Red House 1830s Kitchen - that's a sugar loaf on the table!

 

Photos from the Red House Christmas event last weekend.

facebook/RedHouseMuseum

Red House Celebration

 yorkshire.com

Kirklees Brontë Group invites everyone to come and join them at Red House Museum - in the restored cart sheds - to celebrate Christmas and the two hundredth anniversary of Patrick Brontë's marriage. The date is Saturday 15 December from 1.15 - 3.15pm. Descendants of his sister Sarah have been invited, and mulled wine will be available. You will be able to view the seasonally decorated house, and there will be a Santa for the children.

Books and toys will be on sale to help raise funds to publish a book about former Red House residents and their visitors. These include the last family to reside at Red House before it became a museum - Lord Shaws. Some Brontë family recipes will be included. Money raised from the sale of the book will go to Holly Bank school (formerly Roe Head) in Mirfield, and Friends of Red House Museum in Gomersal. (From Imelda Marsden)

Red House Opening Hours:
From 1 October to 28 February new winter opening hours apply:
Tuesday to Thursday 11am to 4pm;
Saturday to Sunday 12noon to 4pm.
Monday and Friday: Museum closed.
bronteparsonage/red-house-celebration

The Red House has a charming homely feel to it and is so authentic that visitors can easily imagine Charlotte Brontë mingling with the Taylor family whom she loved. She said it was a happy house, full of laughter.

The Spenborough Guardian publishes a letter from a reader who was outraged at the suggested closure of the Red House Museum:

In their “Vision and Strategic Objectives” outlined in the LDF Core Strategy, planners promised to retain the characteristics of Kirklees which make it attractive. This involved, among other issues, safeguarding the “distinctive and contrasting landscapes and legacy of historic buildings within and around Kirklees’ towns and villages.

So much for promises. The historic landscape from the Three Nuns to Hartshead and Roberttown has been earmarked for the biggest industrial development in West Yorkshire; totally ignoring its beauty and its close proximity to Robin Hood’s grave, the ruins of Kirklees Priory, the historic Armytage Estate, the Luddite heritage footpath, and Roe Head (now Hollybank school) the school to which all three Brontë sisters attended and at which Charlotte Brontë taught. And totally ignoring the seven presentations put forward last November to the extraordinary meeting of Kirklees Council.

And then we had the unbelievable threat to the only museum in the Spen Valley! The Red House Museum is a very precious and iconic building.

Built in 1660 by a typical entrepreneurial Spen clothier, William Taylor, it is now actually furnished in the style of the 1830’s when Joshua and Anne Taylor regularly enjoyed the company of their daughter Mary’s friend Charlotte Brontë. The house has a charming homely feel to it and is so authentic that visitors can easily imagine Charlotte Brontë mingling with the Taylor family whom she loved.

She said it was a happy house, full of laughter. And many visitors have felt this; almost 30,000 last year alone. They come to wander round the house and garden and the outbuildings which can absorb them for an afternoon. The cart-shed houses a unique history of the Spen Valley, painstakingly collected over many years. The barn has a wonderful exhibition dedicated to Charlotte Brontë’s book Shirley, based around the Luddite story.

Visitors come from schools, colleges and universities and from locally and far afield. It is well and truly on the Brontë trail for national and international enthusiasts. They all receive a warm welcome from the dedicated staff. What a tourist destination!

Most of all it is one of the most important buildings which make up the Spen Valley’s heritage. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to work out that this solution to saving money was a no-brainer.

Charlotte Brontë had another lifelong friend whom she met at Roe Head school – Ellen Nussey who lived near Birstall Smithies crossroads. Her home was the inspiration for Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre. This is now swamped by a paint manufacturer’s. We cannot go on losing our heritage. And why was North Kirklees being targeted in this way. 

 
Grotere kaart weergeven

Red House: cabinet sees sense

Richard Wilcocks writes: 
Good news! At the cabinet meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall yesterday afternoon it was recommended that the Red House Museum should not close. All the friends and campaigners who have been so wonderfully active in the past couple of weeks can now breathe more easily for a while, hoping that Kirklees Council as a whole will do the right thing when it meets on 22 February. Thanks to everybody who has been in touch, especially to you, Gordon North - your local knowledge is impressively wide-ranging and your alacrity is admirable.

The cabinet made it clear that there should be a new business plan for all the museums in the authority which would include ways of making museums pay their way. This means admission charges, increasing visitor numbers and allowing weddings to take place. All of which is much better than a crassly simple closure plan.

English Heritage has been approached to get the ball rolling to make Red House into a Grade One listed building. It is a Grade Two at the moment. Grade One status could be awarded not because of the architecture but because of the history. Let us hope for this, because it means that new grants would be available. bronteparsonage/red-house-cabinet-sees-sense

Disappearing history

Mary Taylor

BBC News covers the Red House story (don't forget to sign the petition if you haven't yet):

Joan Bellamy, author of a biography of Mary Taylor, said the sale of Red House would be a big loss to the history of the local area.

"It's a disaster. If it was sold then the history of the house would be in danger of disappearing," she said.

"The history of the area - the textiles, the Luddites and Charlotte Brontë's novel - all those elements represented by the house would disappear."

Kirklees Council said in its proposals for 2012 budget consideration that the possible closure of Red House at the end of September 2012 would mean a saving of £116,000 a year.

A council spokesman said: "Councillors have difficult decisions to make as there is a continuing need to achieve efficiencies from across the whole range of services in the three-year budget plan.

"The proposal to close Red House Museum is one of a large number of measures up for consideration which have been proposed to fill a very big gap in the council's budget and reduce expenditure."

The spokesman added that "no decision" had been made on the sale of Red House, and local residents were being invited to make their views known. documents/RedHouse-MaryTaylor

And the Yorkshire Evening Post has received a letter from a reader on the subject:

The Red House Museum is an integral part of the literary history of Yorkshire and of England.
Its value to the community and to the country is evidenced by the fact that it had 30,000 visitors from all over the world and is a place of learning and research.
In an age when much of Britain’s literary heritage is being lost, taking away such a valuable resource would be tantamount to permanantly removing a vital component of the literary history and traditions of a great people.
It also seems strange that when we are celebrating the 200th anniversay of Charles Dickens we should be considering closing a site of value to those other great literary giants – the Brontë sisters. It seems to me that Kirklees Council together with the Yorkshire Tourist Authority can make much more of the Museum and help, not only to increase its visitor numbers but to also use it as the Brontë sisters and the people of their times.
Judith Tampoe, by email  bronteblog/disappearing-history

http://www.shout.net/~dsears/

Red House still looks very much as it would have in Charlotte's day. Each of the rooms brings you closer to the 1830s, from the elegant parlour to the stone-flagged kitchen with its Yorkshire range, jelly moulds and colourful crockery.

Bronteblog/red-house-combining-bronte-history

The Red House story is beginning to reach local papers. The Spenborough Guardian reports many locals are against the closure:

Red House – ‘a cultural and educational gem’ – could be lost forever under council plans to sell it off.

Kirklees says closing the award-winning Gomersal museum and moving its exhibits to other museums would save £116,000 over two years.

However the plans have caused anger with critics saying it is yet another example of north Kirklees making the biggest sacrifices.

MP Mike Wood said: “We knew Kirklees was considering reducing the opening hours, and that was bad enough, but to hear they want to close it altogether was a bombshell.

“Red House is a credit to our area, and we cannot sacrifice it in a forlorn attempt to save money at all costs. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. [...]”

Gomersal councillor Lisa Holmes, said she and her Tory ward colleagues would do their utmost to fight the plans.

“It’s an absolute shame,” she said. “I have spoken to the staff who are devastated, not just for their jobs but because they know the vital service it provides. We realise we have massive savings to make, but we will do whatever we can to find an alternative to closure. There is a big challenge ahead of us but we must protect our heritage.”

Vice-chairman of Spen Valley Civic Society Gordon North said: “People cherish Red House and I am sure they will be as disgusted as we are that the one museum in the Spen Valley could go.

“It attracts local, national and international visitors, and it’s not just because of its Brontë links. The Taylor family was incredibly important in the story of the Spen Valley – Mr Taylor was one of the first woollen manufacturers and opened the Bank of Gomersal, while his daughter Mary Taylor was at the forefront of the feminist and equality movements – and you might think that a Labour council might recognise that.”

Red House was bought by the old Spenborough Council in 1969 to be opened as a museum telling the story of the Spen Valley.

Former Spenborough councillor Michael McGowan, who went on to become an MEP, said only last year he had taken a group of visitors from New Zealand to Red House, because of Mary Taylor’s links with their country.

“It’s a fantastic resource, a cultural and educational gem, and we mustn’t lose it,” he said.

The move has also been condemned by Carol Brontë, who first visited Red House as curator of the Brontë Museum in Northern Ireland. Her husband, James Wallace Brontë, is the great-great-grandson of the Rev Patrick Brontë’s youngest brother.

“I’m absolutely devastated,” she said. “Why close this famous tourist destination? It’s a very special place and I would urge Kirklees to think again.”

Brontë Society trustee Stephen Whitehead said: “The Taylor family was so important to Charlotte that she featured them as the Yorkes in Shirley and Briarmains is an exact description of Red House. It is an irreplaceable asset and this is not the way to manage your heritage.”

President of Cleckheaton Rotary Club Bill Stevenson said they had great concerns about the length of time for objections – February 7 – and urged the public to attend Tuesday’s Spen Valley area committee meeting to air their views.

The meeting is at 7pm at the town hall, Cleckheaton.

A spokeswoman for Kirklees said difficult decisions had to be made.

“The proposal to close Red House Museum is one of a large number of measures up for consideration which have been proposed to fill a very big gap in the council’s budget and reduce expenditure,” she said.

No decision has been made yet and people are invited to make their views know by contactingcommunication@kirklees.gov.uk or Communities and Leisure, Museums and Galleries, The Stables, Ravensknowle Park, Wakefield Road, Dalton, Huddersfield, HD5 8DJ. (Margaret Heward)

The Telegraph and Argus looks at it from a Brontë point of view:

The director of the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth has condemned proposals to close a popular museum with strong connections to the famous literary family.
The future of Red House Museum, Gomersal, will be discussed at Kirklees Council’s Cabinet meeting on February 7 as part of budget talks.
But parsonage director Andrew McCarthy said: “We appreciate the challenges faced by local authorities in terms of balancing the budgets at the moment but it does seem a pretty drastic step that can be made in haste and repented at leisure.” [...]
It is said ‘Briarmains’ – the house Charlotte wrote about in her second novel, Shirley – was based on Red House and some of the characters were thought to have been inspired by the Taylor family.
Mr McCarthy said: “The Taylor family as merchants, bankers and mill-owners did a huge amount to shape that part of the West Riding and they are a great part of the heritage of the area and there is this very strong link with the Brontës, particularly Charlotte.
“She stayed there on many occasions in the 1830s as a guest of her close friends Mary and Martha Taylor.
“There are very few buildings which combine Brontë history and Brontë fiction in the way Red House does. It would be a huge loss.” (Sally Clifford)

Please keep letters/email coming to local authorities (see list in this post) and if you haven't yet, do sign this online petition. And spread the word too! 

Red House Museum

In addition to the recently publicised reduction in the opening times of Museums and Galleries across Kirklees, the proposals now include the complete closure of Red House Museum in Gomersal.

If these proposals are passed, Red House would be closed in September and the buildings sold - not necessarily as a museum.

Red House was built in 1660 and was the home of the Taylor Family until 1920.  It has important Brontë connections and is now furnished as a home in the 1830s when Charlotte Brontë was a frequent visitor.  Red House, the Taylor family and the Spen Valley area were all featured in Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley.  

Also on site are the recreated 1830s gardens, the restored Barn which illustrates the numerous Brontë connections in the area and the renovated Cartsheds which houses the 'Spen Valley Stories' gallery.

Last year the site received almost 30,000 visitors and was recently awarded its second Sandford Award for the quality of its heritage educational services for schools.  Read more on: Bronte Parsonage