BRADFORD schoolchildren will be encouraged to “write their own story” at the house where the Brontes were born - now in public ownership for the first time in its 200-year history.
The Thornton house - home to the Bronte family before they moved to Haworth - has been taken over by Bronte Birthplace Limited, which has raised more than £650,000.
The community ownership fund has had grants from Bradford 2025 and the Government’s Levelling Up fund, and a share offer attracted more than 700 investors.
The terraced house, on Market Street, will be used for school visits, workshops and literary events.
There will also be a cafe and holiday let bedrooms, furnished to reflect the personalities of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.
Other plans include tours by Bronte nanny Nancy De Garrs, who came to the Thornton house aged 13, and re-enactments of the family arriving at the village in 1815 then leaving it, in 1820, on horse-drawn carts.
There will be storytelling and dressing-up sessions in the scullery, which has a 'secret' servants' staircase.
A refurbishment is due to start soon and the aim is to open the property in January 2025, for Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture. The public is invited to look around the house at an open day on Sunday, April 21.
Steven Stanworth, vice chair of Bronte Birthplace Limited, said: “When the Brontes lived here this was a vibrant, busy house, with six children, and it still feels like a happy family home.
"We want people to live and breathe it, with a combination of visual and tactile experiences.”
An education programme, ‘Be More Bronte’, will begin this year, and schoolchildren will be invited to contribute to an ‘Ambition Wall’.
Gillian Wilson, headteacher of St Oswald’s Primary Academy, who will run trial education projects leading up to 2025, said: “I brought a class to Thornton; we stood outside this house and they said, ‘It’s just like my street’.
"They were expecting a grand mansion. Discovering that these three girls came from a small house, and overcame many barriers, is hugely inspiring.
"So many children see their own barriers as insurmountable. To walk in the footsteps of the Brontes plants a seed of ambition. What they learn here will run through the curriculum.”
Patrick and Maria Bronte and their two daughters moved to Thornton in 1815. Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne were born in the house.
The Grade II*-listed building has had various uses, most recently a cafe, and has been empty for four years. Saving it is the culmination of a two-year campaign.
“The Brontes were Bradford girls from a humble home,” said Christa Ackroyd from the campaign.
“We want people to sit by the parlour fireplace where they were born, be immersed in this house of ambition - and be proud of the social changes the Brontes were part of.”
Dan Bates, Executive Director of Bradford 2025, said: “It’s exciting to see plans that have been taking shape over the years becoming a reality and the purchase of the Bronte birthplace is a major milestone in the whole district’s preparations for UK City of Culture.
“The Brontes attract attention and visitors from all over the world and by investing in the district’s cultural infrastructure through our Cultural Capital Fund, we are helping to cement Bradford’s place on the international map.
"We’re getting ready to welcome the world to Bradford and Bronte birthplace is one step further in its ambitions to create a lasting cultural experience for local people and international visitors alike.”
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