Brocklebridge Churchyard is mentioned in the novel Jane Eyre by Currer Bell; Charlotte Brontë’s pen name. The significance of this location comes from the closeness to Lowood, where the character Jane went to an all-girls school; it is also where Jane’s best friend, Helen, is laid to rest in the novel. Brontë writes, “Sundays were dreary days in that wintry season. We had to walk two miles to Brocklebridge Church, where our patron officiated. We set out cold, we arrived at church colder… Her [Helen] grave is in Brocklebridge churchyard: for fifteen years after her death, it was only covered by a grassy mound; but now a grey marble tablet marks the spot, inscribed with her name, and the word ‘Resurgam.’” (Bell). It is researched that Brocklebridge Churchyard is now the modern-day St. John the Baptist Church, located northeast of the village of Tunstall, England. It is also recorded that the Brontë sisters attended school at a nearby school, further proving the accuracy of the location. Researchers note, “It was to it that she and her sisters were sent in 1824 and her impressions of 'Lowood School' are recorded in Jane Eyre. Brocklebridge Church takes the places of Tunstall Church, to which the pupils went every Sunday, eating their dinners in the parvises between the services” (The Parish of Tunstall).

Works Cited

Bell, Currer. Jane Eyre. Smith, Elder & Co, 1869.

“St John the Baptist’s Church, Tunstall.” Wikipedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_the_Baptist%27s_Church,_Tunstall

"The Parish of Tunstall." A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 8. British History Online. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol8/pp225-230.