Haworth and the Brontë Way
"Across the wild Pennine moors to the romantic ruin of Top Withuns."
Walk directions
Take the cobbled lane beside The King’s Arms, signed to the Brontë Parsonage Museum. The lane soon becomes a paved field path that leads to the Haworth–Stanbury road. Walk left along the road and, after just 75yds (69m), take a left fork, signed to Penistone Hill. Continue along this quiet road to a T-junction.
Follow the track opposite, signed to the Brontë Waterfall. Becoming a path, it eventually descends to South Dean Beck where, close to the stone bridge, you will find the Brontë Seat (a boulder that resembles a chair) and the Brontë Waterfall. Cross the bridge and climb steeply uphill to a kissing gate and three-way sign.
Keep left, uphill, on a paved path signed ‘Top Withins’. Beyond another kissing gate, ignore the later left fork. After dipping across a beck the path leads on, eventually climbing to a signpost by a ruined building. Walk a short distance left, uphill, to visit the ruin of Top Withins, which can be imagined as the inspiration for Emily Brontë‘s Wuthering Heights.
Retrace your steps to the signpost, but now keep ahead on a paved path, downhill, signed to Stanbury and Haworth and the Pennine Way. Follow a broad, clear track across the wide expanse of wild Pennine moorland. Carry on for a mile (1.6km) to Upper Heights Farm.
At a fork at the farm, bear left with the Pennine Way, shortly passing a second farm. Some 200yds (183m) further on at a junction, the Pennine Way leaves to the left. The route, however, continues with the track ahead signed to Stanbury and Haworth. As other tracks join, the way becomes metalled and leads to the main lane at the edge of Stanbury.
Bear right along the road through Stanbury, then take the first road on the right, signed to Oxenhope, and cross the dam of Lower Laithe Reservoir. Immediately beyond the dam, turn left onto a service road and fork right along an uphill track that meets the lane by Haworth Cemetery.
From here you retrace your outward route: walk left along the road, soon taking a gap stile on the right, to follow the paved field path back into Haworth.
Additional information
Terrain
- Well signed and easy to follow
Landscape
- Open moorland
Dog friendliness
- On lead near sheep on open moorland
Parking
- Pay-and-display car park, near Brontë Parsonage
Toilets en route
- At entrance to car park
About the walk
Who could have imagined, when the Revd Patrick Brontë became curate of the Church of St Michael and All Angels in 1820, that the little gritstone town of Haworth would become a literary hot spot to rival Grasmere and Stratfordupon-Avon? But visitors flock here in great numbers: some to gain... insights into the works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne, others just to enjoy a day out. If the shy sisters could see the Haworth of today, they would recognise the steep, cobbled main street. But they would no doubt be amazed to see the tourist industry that’s built up to exploit their names and literary reputations. They would recognise the Georgian parsonage too. Now a museum, it has been painstakingly restored to reflect the lives of the Brontës and the rooms are filled with their personal treasures. That three such prodigious talents should be found within a single family is remarkable enough. To have created such towering works as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights while living in a bleakly inhospitable place is incredible. The public were unprepared for this trio of lady novelists, which is why all the books published during their lifetimes bore the androgynous pen names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. After Patrick Brontë came to Haworth with his wife and six children, tragedy was never far away. His wife died the following year and two daughters did not live to adulthood. His only son, Branwell, succumbed to drink and drugs; Anne and Emily died aged 29 and 30 respectively. Only Charlotte lived long enough to marry but, after just one year of marriage, she, too, fell ill and died in 1855, aged 38. Revd Brontë survived them all, living to the ripe old age of 84. Tourism is no recent development; by the middle of the 19th century, the first literary pilgrims were visiting Haworth. No matter how crowded this little town becomes, it is always possible to escape to the moors that surround it. You can follow, literally, in the footsteps of the three sisters as they sought freedom and inspiration, away from the confines of the parsonage. As you explore these inhospitable moors, you’ll get a greater insight into the literary world of the Brontës than those who stray no further than the souvenir shops and tea rooms of Haworth.
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Been on this walk?
Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.
Walking in Safety
Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.
Get an AA guide
Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.
About the area
Everybody knows that Yorkshire has some special landscapes. The Dales and the Moors first spring to mind, but what about West Yorkshire? That’s Leeds and Bradford isn’t it? Back-to-back houses and blackened mills… Certainly if you had stood on any of the hills surrounding Hebden Bridge a hundred years ago, and gazed down into the valley, all you would have seen was the pall of smoke issuing from the chimneys of 33 textile mills.
Nearby places to stay
View all (8)
Self-Catering
Higher Scholes Cottage
★★★★★
"Views of the romantic moors, complete with a private hot tub...."
- Total units: 1
- Private garden
- Washing machine
- Sky or freeview
Nearby places to stay
Old White Lion Hotel
Old White Lion Hotel is a 300-year-old coaching inn with 14 well-equipped en-suite rooms. Family-run, the hotel on Haworth’s cobbled main street is close to the Bronte Parsonage Museum ...
★★★★ Rating
The Fleece Inn
Most tourists visit Haworth for the Brontë Sisters. Now a museum, The Parsonage, where they lived, is further up the cobbled hill from the cosy guest rooms of The Fleece Inn. Some visit...
★★★★ Rating
Higher Scholes Cottage
Higher Scoles Cottage is set in the heart of Brontë Country and commands stunning views of the romantic moors. This luxury cottage is the perfect place to find some peace and quiet, wit...
★★★★★ Rating
Higher Scholes Cottage
Higher Scoles Cottage is set in the heart of Brontë Country and commands stunning views of the romantic moors. This luxury cottage is the perfect place to find some peace and quiet, wit...
★★★★★ Rating
Upwood Holiday Park
With panoramas of the surrounding moors and the Aire Valley, Upwood Holiday Park’s accommodation portfolio even includes Mongolian yurts. In the clubhouse is the Upwood Inn, with pool t...
★★★★ Rating
Ploughcroft Cottage
At 1000ft above sea level, Ploughcroft Cottage is in a unique position set in a rural vista only five minutes’ drive from Halifax town centre. Off-road parking is available as well as a...
★★★★ Rating
Shawclough Barn
High on the Lancashire and Yorkshire border, Shawclough Barn boasts breathtaking views from one of the highest hills in Pendle. Well-positioned for day trips to the Yorkshire Dales and ...
Awaiting assessment
Shawclough Barn
High on the Lancashire and Yorkshire border, Shawclough Barn boasts breathtaking views from one of the highest hills in Pendle. Well-positioned for day trips to the Yorkshire Dales and ...
Awaiting assessment
Places to eat nearby View all



