Top Withens () (also known as Top Withins) is a ruined farmhouse near Haworth,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England, which is said to have been the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house Wuthering Heights in the 1847 novel of the same name by

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

. A plaque affixed to a wall reads: The ruin lies on the Pennine Way east of Withins Height below Delf Hill. It is a popular walking destination from nearby Haworth and

Stanbury Stanbury is a village in the Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury civil parish, and in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The name Stanbury translates as ''Stone Fort'' from Old English. Geography The ...

. Such is the attraction to Japanese literary tourists that some footpath signs in the area include directions in Japanese.

Thunderstorm

On 18 May 1893, Top Withens was struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

during a thunderstorm. Holes were made in the wall, the roof was partially torn off, flags were cracked, and around 30 windows were almost completely removed. A portion of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

was thrown far from the house by the wind, and in the kitchen the blade of a knife had been fused by the heat. A bowl of

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening ag ...

prepared by the farmer's wife, Mrs. Sunderland, was smashed to pieces, and her dog and cat fled the building in fear. This was reported by the '' Todmorden & District News'' the following week.

References

External links

The Top Withens page at "The Reader's Guide to Wuthering Heights"
{{Authority control Tourist attractions in the City of Bradford Wuthering Heights Houses in West Yorkshire