LITERARY fans are being given a chance to acquire their own small part of history.
Pieces of the original beams at the Brontë Birthplace are being offered for sale.
Proceeds will help maintain the 200-year-old property, at Thornton.
Whilst the Brontë siblings are inexorably associated with Haworth – where they lived and drew inspiration for their work from the surrounding moorland – Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne were all born at the house in Thornton.
Money from more than 700 individual investors – together with grants from Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, the Community Ownership Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Rural England Prosperity Fund – led to the home being bought and placed under the care of Brontë Birthplace Limited, a community benefit society.
It was during renovations to the house – which was opened to the public for the first time earlier this year – that the original timber beams were discovered, after the parlour ceiling had been stripped back.
Following consultation with Bradford Council and Historic England, it was decided the beams could no longer be used and would have to be replaced.
Now a total of 240 sections of the old timbers have been carefully prepared by property advisor Adrian Tingle, and framed and mounted by Thornton-based picture framer Andy Rushworth using museum-quality art glass, and are on sale to the public for £250 each.
There is holographic authentication with each piece, and a register of ownership will be maintained.
Nigel West, fundraising co-ordinator at the Brontë Birthplace, says: "This is a limited edition. We don't anticipate any further major works in our lifetime, and you can take the opportunity to own this slice of history secure in the knowledge that removal was completely necessary to ensure the safety of the building.
"Dating back over 200 years, each beam once supported the very floor beneath the feet of the Brontë family. Lovingly preserved and presented, each piece offers a tangible connection to literary history and a timeless keepsake from the place where the Brontë story began."
Also being made available to Brontë enthusiasts as part of the fundraising drive is a limited-edition poem by London-based poet Liliana Pasterska.
Liliana joined forces with Marina Saegerman from the Brussels Brontë Group, who specialises in calligraphy and artwork, to create the Brontë Birthplace poem. Just 100 signed poems are priced at £120 each.
For more details, visit brontebirthplace.com
Share