The Brontë Bell Chapel

Just before Christmas, when I went to Thornton to view the Christmas Tree Festival in St James' Church, I was lucky enough to find the gate to the Bell Chapel, opposite, unlocked. These days I think it's normally 'out of bounds' to visitors but there was a working party doing some tidying up in the grounds so I was able to go in and take some photos.

The Bell Chapel, as it is known locally, was built between 1587 and 1612, but underwent various alterations over the years before the appointment of Patrick Brontë as the parson, in 1815.  He was, as you may recall, the father of Charlotte, Anne and Emily Brontë, who went on to become famous novelists. They were all born in Thornton whilst their father was incumbent there for five years - a period he described as the happiest of his life. His children were all baptised here and the original baptismal font is now relocated inside St James' Church across the road. 

Not much of the actual chapel remains, apart from an end wall with a tiny anteroom, and the cupola. The new church of St James was built in 1872 (well after Patrick and his family had moved on to Haworth). After that the old chapel and its surrounding graveyard (where over 6000 people are buried) rapidly deteriorated and became overgrown. Great efforts have been made in recent times to clean up the surroundings and look after it but I think funding is hard to come by and volunteers come and go. There's more information HERE. 

It's an interesting place, surprisingly peaceful despite being next to a main road, and full of echoes of the past. I've chosen to process the photos in sepia to accentuate the history.