St Michael & All Angels

There is some belief that a religious building may have stood on the site before then, although there is no concrete evidence for this.

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.

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. 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. 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 family and served the Parish of Haworth for 41 years. He is still the longest serving incumbent.

In 1879 it was decided to take down the old church building and build a new one. This caused a national outcry as Haworth and the church had already become a place of Bronte pilgrimage. However, it was proved that the building was unsafe and unsanitary as water from that graveyard was seeping in through the floor, so the work went ahead.

In 1964 the Bronte Memorial Chapel was dedicated by the Bishop of Bradford. The communion table, chandelier and the Bronte memorial tablet are from the ‘Bronte’ church, before it was rebuilt.