If the sight of Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie romping around the Yorkshire moors has given you an itch for a dramatic mini break, then look no further: here’s your stylish guide to Brontë country (moody Heathcliff optional).
For those keen on accuracy, head to Holdsworth House, where Elordi, Robbie, and crew stayed during filming of Wuthering Heights, just outside Halifax. The hotel is a beautiful stone Grade II-listed 17th-century Jacobean Manor house (it even offers a “Brontë break,” with a breakfast included, tickets to the Brontë Parsonage and a hand-drawn walking guide to Haworth). When you’ve had your fill of beating-heart sightseeing, you can indulge in the kind of R and R that Cathy would have wept for. Its new Farmhouse treatment rooms use Irish luxury skincare brand Ground Wellbeing, formulations which are 100% vegan and plant-based. Then eat like the Earnshaws with its eight-course tasting menu (featuring foraged wild mushrooms and Yorkshire venison) under the cozy restaurant’s original beamed low ceilings next to the roaring fire.
Haworth is a 20-minute drive through the Pennines. At the top of its cobbled high street sits the Brontë Parsonage, the house where Charlotte, Anne, and Emily lived with their brother Branwell. Next door is St. Michael and All Angels Church (where their father Patrick was curate) and its deeply atmospheric graveyard. Charlotte and Emily are buried in the family vault in the church, and on show inside is Charlotte’s marriage certificate; she is listed with no profession, despite being renowned then as the author of Jane Eyre.
The house itself is hauntingly similar to how it was when the family were in residence. The front parlor room is laid out as if they’d just broken for tea, while the small dining room table they worked at scattered with a writing block and ink, newspapers, cups and saucers. But tragedy, too, isn’t far from sight; against the wall is the sofa where Emily died from tuberculosis, aged 30.
Upstairs there are everyday ephemera, letters, Emily’s christening mug and diary; Charlotte’s small writing desk, dress and bonnet; as well as a mock-up of Bramwell’s messy, unkempt bedroom, as if he’s just stumbled out to the Black Bull to drink himself into oblivion (the pub he frequented, which still stands in the town). The museum also features film posters and paraphernalia from every on-screen depiction of the sisters’ works—it’s riveting to see the gamut of interpretations taken in light of the debate over Emerald Fennell’s version.
Once you’ve taken all that in, you’ll probably need a sit down. Haworth is adorable chocolate-box Yorkshire; the high street is home to old-fashioned sweet shops and second-hand stores full of books and trinkets, as well as stylish, modern mores. For the goth-inclined, The Cabinet of Curiosities offers suitably mock-antiquated vials of perfume, candles, and other toiletry potions (fit for Thrushcross Grange). And for the homeware enthusiast, Hawksby’s has a charming curation of British-made pieces, including the abstract designs of Creatively Occupied ceramics and Lynsey Walter’s striking colour-blocked fabric jewellery.
You won’t find a better brunch than at the Haworth Old Post Office, where the sisters once posted off their manuscripts. The cozy, dark wood interior is a historic snug; choose from its traditional breakfast with delicious smoky beans or a combination of small plates featuring maple baked figs, baked goat’s cheese, and harissa hummus. Top off with a caramel hot chocolate to fortify you for a wander up through the moors.
From Haworth, you can hike up onto a portion of the 43-mile-long Brontë way (for the serious enthusiast), which runs from Oakwell Hall near Batley (Fieldhead House from Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley) to Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham (where Charlotte visited friends as a child).
For a taste of the beautifully desolate moors the family stalked around, conjuring up their torrid tales, follow the trail up to Penistone Hill for dramatic views over the town; or take in the Brontë waterfall (more of a light stream in reality) and on to the romantically desolate ruins of Top Withens (often touted as potential inspiration for the setting of Wuthering Heights), which offers an excellent opportunity to bellow out your best Yorkshire broad, “Cathy!”