One of the most visited churches in the UK, whose crypt contains the bodies of famous literary sisters Charlotte and Emily Bronte, has been gifted a £115,000 windfall.

The money from the Heritage Lottery pot will go towards financing the biggest refurbishment of St Michael and All Angels, Haworth, since it was re-built in 1879.

The Lottery handout will help boost funding on a major repair project which is expected to cost in the region of £1.4 million.

The rector, the Rev Peter Mayo-Smith, said it was good news for the parish, which saw about one million visitors a year coming to see the Bronte Parsonage Museum and the church where the sisters’ father, the Rev Patrick Bronte, was the vicar in the 1800s.

The money, which would be match funded by the church through fundraising, was to pay for repairs to the roof and internal fabric of the church, he said.

“The first phase is to explore the problem in the south roof which is badly leaking,” he said. “We occasionally have buckets out to catch the water. The north roof, which isn’t as bad, will be tackled later.

“The roof is the most important thing to get right, then we can tackle work inside the church including restoring a wall painting.

“The aim is to make the church an asset to the community, so it can be used by people such as the Bronte Society and for concerts.

“It is also visited by many people because of the Brontes, so we want to improve the experience for people who come into the church.”