Tour of the UK Devyn RichmondWuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

Seven Stops on the Way!

•Yorkshire, United Kingdom

•Top Withens (Wuthering Heights)

•High Sunderland Hall (Wuthering Heights)

•Ponden Clough Beck (Penistone Crags)

•The Moors

•Shibden Hall (Thrushcross Grange)

•Liverpool, United Kingdom

Yorkshire, England

•The city of Yorkshire is where the majority of the story takes place. Yorkshire is considered a very historic county and is the largest in the United Kingdom.

•"Have you noticed, Catherine, his frightful Yorkshire pronunciation?" (Brontë 638).

High Sunderland Hall

•High Sunderland Hall is believed to have been one of the inspirations for the Earnshaw farmhouse, Wuthering Heights. High Sunderland was located near Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Brontë worked as a governess in the building in 1838. Although it was very extravagant compared to the fictional farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, the halls of High Sunderland were filled with grotesque decorations of griffins and odd nude men very similar to those described by Lockwood in chapter one.

•“Before passing the threshold, I paused to admire a quantity of grotesque carving lavished over the front, and especially about the principal door; above which, among a wilderness of crumbling griffins and shameless little boys" (Brontë 9).

•High Sunderland Hall is now demolished.

Top Withens

•Top Withens is also believed to have been the other inspiration for the farmhouse, Wuthering Heights. Top Withens is a ruined, isolated farmhouse in Haworth, West Yorkshire, England. Although, the structure of Top Withens doesn't exactly match the description given in the novel of the Earnshaw family home, Wuthering Heights, it was first suggested to be the model for the fictitious farmhouse.

•“One stop brought us into the family sitting-room, without any introductory lobby or passage: they call it here 'the house' preeminently. It includes kitchen and parlour, generally; but I believe at Wuthering Heights the kitchen is forced to retreat altogether into another quarter" ... “the floor was of smooth, white stone; the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green” ... "the apartment and furniture would have been nothing extraordinary as belonging to a homely, northern farmer” (Brontë 10-12).

•The ruined home is known today for its inspiration that sparked Brontë's imagination.

Shibden Hall

•Shibden Hall is strongly believed that it was what Brontë had in mind when creating Thrushcross Grange, another fictional location in the novel. Shibden Hall is also located near Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Thrushcross Grange is the home of the superior Linton's, where there are high walls and many restrictions. It lies within a very large park, like Shibden Hall, and is four miles south of Wuthering Heights.

•“Is Wuthering Heights as pleasant a place as Thrushcross Grange?" ... "It is not so buried in trees,' I replied, 'and it is not quite so large, but you can see the country beautifully all round; and the air is healthier for you--fresher and drier" (Brontë 593).

•Shibden Hall has many features that match the description of the Linton Home in the novel and is still standing today.

Ponden Clough Beck

•Ponden Clough Beck is a rock formation out beside Ponden Woods in England. It is said to be the inspiration of the Penistone Crags in the novel. Penistone Crags is a rock formation that Catherine wants to see throughout the entire story, but her father warns her that it's too dangerous. Finally, she sneaks out and realizes just how amazing the Penistone Crags is. It is the one place where the characters could be free. It's their safe place.

•“The abrupt descent of Penistone Crags particularly attracted her notice; especially when the setting sun shone on it and the topmost heights, and the whole extent of landscape besides lay in shadow. I explained that they were bare masses of stone, with hardly enough earth in their clefts to nourish a stunted tree" (Brontë 548).

•Penistone Crags has so much significance in the story, so Ponden Clough Beck is known today for the wonderful inspiration.

The Moors

•The Moors is an enormous terrain in North Yorkshire, England. In the novel, it's where the characters went to be themselves and be free (also where Penistone Crags is located). It's where Catherine and Heathcliff went to spend time together. It was also where Heathcliff spent his time in sorrow after Catherine dies. As you can tell, The Moors has a strong significance in the story representing Catherine and Heathcliff's love.

•“But it was one of their chief amusements to run away to the moors in the morning and remain there all day, and the after punishment grew a mere thing to laugh at" (Brontë 128).

•Today, The Moors is a national park and one of the largest in the United Kingdom.

Liverpool, United Kingdom

•Liverpool is a populated city in northwest England. In the novel, Mr. Earnshaw takes a business trip to the city and finds a little boy wandering the streets. Earnshaw takes the boy home with him to Wuthering Heights and names him Heathcliff.

•“We crowded round, and over Miss Cathy's head I had a peep at a dirty, ragged, black-haired child; big enough both to walk and talk: indeed, its face looked older than Catherine's; yet when it was set on its feet, it only stared round, and repeated over and over again some gibberish that nobody could understand" (Brontë 53).

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