Cowan Bridge is a village in the English county of
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
.
It is south-east of the town of
Kirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale () is a town and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically in Westmorland, it lies south-east of Kendal on the A65. The parish recorded a population of 1,771 in ...
where the main
A65 road
The A65 is a major road in England. It runs north west from Leeds in West Yorkshire via Kirkstall, Horsforth, Yeadon, Guiseley, Ilkley and Skipton, west of Settle, Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale before terminating at Kendal in Cumbria.
Bypass ...
crosses the
Leck Beck. It forms part of the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Burrow-with-Burrow
Burrow-with-Burrow is a civil parish in the English county of Lancashire.
The parish of Burrow-with-Burrow had a population of 191 recorded in the 2001 census,
decreasing to 182 at the 2011 Census.
It is on the River Lune south of the Cumb ...
.
Clergy Daughters' School
Cowan Bridge was the site of the Clergy Daughters' School attended by
Charlotte and
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English writer best known for her 1847 novel, ''Wuthering Heights''. She also co-authored a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte and Anne Brontà ...
, the notable 19th-century writers, and their older sisters
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
and
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth''
* Princess Elizabeth ...
, who died after experiencing harsh privations at the school. There is a plaque commemorating this association on the former school building, which partially survives. The churchyard of
St Peter's Church, Leck
St Peter's Church is in the village of Leck, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Tunstall, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with those of St Wilf ...
, has graves of several of the children who died at the school.
Charlotte described the abuses, the
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
epidemic in which seven pupils died, the scandal which followed, and subsequent reform of the school in ''
Jane Eyre
''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...
''. The character of Helen Burns is based closely on Maria. Reverend Brocklehurst is a portrait of
William Carus Wilson
William Carus Wilson (7 July 1791 – 30 December 1859) was an English churchman and the founder and editor of the long-lived monthly ''The Children's Friend (British magazine), The Children's Friend''. He was the inspiration for Mr Brocklehurst, ...
, who managed the school in the Brontës' time. Women readers who had attended the school confirmed Charlotte's account.
In a letter to her publisher W.S. Williams, Charlotte describes overhearing an elderly clergyman talk about reading ''Jane Eyre'' and saying "Why, they have got Cowan Bridge School, and Mr. Wilson here, I declare! and Miss Evans." She says, "He had known them all. I wondered whether he would recognise the portraits, and was gratified to find that he did, and that, moreover, he pronounced them faithful and just. He said, too, that Mr. Wilson 'deserved the chastisement he had got.'"
The Clergy Daughters' School still exists. It was moved to
Casterton shortly after the scandal. In 1840 another typhus epidemic struck 70 of the pupils, claiming the lives of three. By 1857
Dorothea Beale
Dorothea Beale LL.D. (21 March 1831 – 9 November 1906) was a suffragist, educational reformer and author. As Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College, she became the founder of St Hilda's College, Oxford.
Early and family life
Dorothea Beale w ...
was teaching there. It was apparent to her that while some of the physical circumstances had improved since Charlotte's time, the spiritual aspects had not changed. When the ''
Life of Charlotte Brontë'' by
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer. Her novels offer detailed studies of Victorian era, Victoria ...
came out, Beale began to write her own unfavorable impressions of the religious education handed out there.
[Entries on Dorothea Beale and on the Clergy Daughters' School in ''A Brontë Encyclopedia'' by Robert and Louise Barnard. .]
References
External links
Photos of the original Clergy Daughters' School buildingtaken 3 May 1985.
*
Villages in Lancashire
Geography of the City of Lancaster
{{Lancashire-geo-stub