WORK has begun on a near £100,000 project to restore one of Haworth’s most important historic buildings following a major fundraising effort.

The renovation of the 184-year-old Old School Room, in Church Street, started on Monday.

The work is expected to last for about two and a half months.

The total cost of renovation of the historic building, which is used for community events and functions, and recently featured on Celebrity Masterchef, is £96,000.

The work comes after eight years of fundraising by Bronte Spirit, the charity dedicated to repairing and refurbishing the property.

Around £70,000 came from grant money and nearly £30,000 from community fundraising.

A spokesman for the scheme said: “On Monday Averil Kenyon, chairman of Bronte Spirit, was on hand to greet the contractors Hopleys as they arrived on site to start the project that is expected to take in the region of ten weeks to complete.

“The work has been made possible by a grant of £44,973 from landfill community fund WREN, £10,000 from The Garfield Weston Foundation and £15,000 from The Pilgrim Trust.”

The grade II listed Old School Room was built by Patrick Bronte in 1832 and was extended in 1850 and 1871.

It used to house a school where Mr Bronte’s famous literary children Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell all worked as teachers.

The Old School Room was replaced as a school in 1903, but continued to function as a community building, being used for a variety of purposes, including a gymnasium, a library, a youth hostel and even an army billet during the Second World War.

Although the building is still often used to host local events and activities it has suffered from badly-leaking Victorian-era roofs.

At the end of last year Bradford Council approved an application to replace six windows on the northern side of the building with new, timber frame replica windows.

The money raised now means that work can be done over the next few weeks.

Reverend Peter Mayo-Smith, the rector of Haworth Parish Church, said he was delighted that the main part of the renovation is now under way.

“I congratulate the trustees of Bronte Spirit for the extremely hard work they’ve put in to making this possible,” he added.

“This is excellent news.

“The Old School Room is a very valuable building not just for Haworth but also for the nation.

“It is one of two properties Patrick Bronte was responsible for building, the other being St Gabriel’s Church in Stanbury.

“He was a great believer in education being a way out of poverty – something still very relevant today – and he wanted the children of local mill workers to have an education so they could escape the deprivation of the surrounding area.”

Reverend Mayo-Smith, who is also an honorary treasurer for the Bronte Society, added he understood that once the roof is fixed and the property made water tight, its custodians will be able to make improvements to other parts of the building.