2 Church Street
Haworth
West Yorkshire
BD22 8DR
01535 645197
Traditional Village Pub
The Kings Arms sits at the top of the steep and cobbled Haworth Main Street close to three other pubs. The lease is now held by Bridgehouse Brewery whose beers are renamed after the Bronte sisters and their brother.
Like other pubs on Main Street, the main custom during the day comes from from tourists, but in the evening from locals. Food is served most of the day until about 8.00pm.
The Kings Arms is first mentioned in print in 1763 as the meeting place of the manorial court, a medieval institution which had a prolonged life in some areas. The pub was rebuilt in the late 1700s from the local golden millstone grit (photo 2). Dissolute brother of the Bronte Sisters, Branwell, is usually associated with the nearby Black Bull but as a friend of the Kings Arms’ landlord Enoch Thomas, he certainly visited there as well. The pub entrance is on the narrow street that leads up to the parsonage which was home to the Brontes, and to the Old Schoolhouse where Charlotte taught (photos 1 & 2).
Life expectancy in 1840s Haworth was low and when the mortuary next to the Kings Arms was full, bodies were stored in the cellar of the pub. Because of this the pub is said to be haunted, with objects being moved around by unseen spirits, and noises coming from the cellar.
