Emily Bronte: Thornton postbox celebrates bicentenary

Thornton schoolchildren posted letters to pay homage to the importance of correspondence to the Brontes

A commemorative postbox adorned with Emily Bronte quotes has been unveiled to celebrate her 200th birthday.

Schoolchildren from Thornton near Bradford, where Emily was born in 1818, dressed in 19th Century clothes to post letters in a nod to the importance of correspondence to the Brontes.

The postbox is inscribed with the 1836 poem High Waving Heather and "I am Heathcliff!" from Wuthering Heights.

It will be on Market Street in Thornton for a month.

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Emily Bronte was born in Market Street on 30 July 1818.

Her older sister Charlotte and brother Patrick (known as Branwell) were born there in April 1816 and June 1817, and her younger sister Anne in January 1820.

The family moved to Haworth Parsonage nearby in 1820 after their father Patrick became Reverend of St Michael and All Angels' Church.

Thornton Primary pupils researched what life would be like for the Bronte sisters today

South Square Centre in Thornton marked Emily's bicentenary with exhibitions and workshops and dancers performed to Kate Bush's 1978 hit Wuthering Heights.

Artist Lucy Barker created Bronte animations with Year Four pupils from Thornton Primary School, who visited the postbox dressed in "Bronte-style clothes".

People danced to Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush during the South Square Centre's birthday party for Emily Bronte

Mark Street, of Royal Mail, said: "The incredible impact that Emily Bronte's work has had on our culture is undeniable, and we are delighted to honour her work in this way."

Rebecca Yorke, of the Bronte Society, said: "Correspondence played an important part in the lives of the Emily and her sisters; their letters have made a significant contribution to what we know about them."

The postbox is adorned with six Emily Bronte quotes