Reading list · Places in a book

Places behind Jane Eyre

Explore the places behind Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë on the map.

3 places · behind Jane Eyre

What places are behind Jane Eyre?

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë sets its story in invented places, each drawn from somewhere you can visit: Hathersage, Cowan Bridge, and Wycoller.

  • Hathersage (Peak District, Derbyshire)
  • Cowan Bridge (Lancashire)
  • Wycoller (Trawden Forest, Lancashire)

  1. Hathersage

    Peak District, Derbyshire

    Charlotte Brontë stayed in Hathersage in 1845 while writing Jane Eyre. Nearby North Lees Hall, accepted as the basis for the invented Thornfield Hall, retains its battlements and is now let as a private home.

  2. Cowan Bridge

    Lancashire

    Charlotte Brontë attended the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge as a child and drew on it for Lowood, Jane's invented school.

  3. Wycoller

    Trawden Forest, Lancashire

    Wycoller Hall's ruins are thought to have inspired the invented Ferndean Manor, where Jane and Rochester reunite. The hall's two-storey porch was removed in the 1870s and re-erected in neighbouring Trawden.

Charlotte Brontë's world

See every place behind Charlotte Brontë's stories — one guide across all their books.

Reading your way into Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre's settings are invented, with places behind them: North Lees Hall near Hathersage is accepted as the basis for Thornfield, and Charlotte Brontë's school at Cowan Bridge became Lowood. Wycoller Hall is thought to have inspired Ferndean, where Jane and Rochester reunite. The novel was written at Haworth parsonage.