Eighty years ago, thousands of people turned out in Haworth to witness the opening of a museum devoted to the Brontës at their former home.

Haworth Parsonage was acquired by the Brontë Society in 1927 and its doors opened to the public on August 4, 1928. The event drew huge crowds, eager to see the place where the Brontë family lived and wrote their world-famous books.

From next week the Brontë Parsonage Museum is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a summer of special events, ranging from a puppet show based on the Brontës’ life to a chainsaw sculpture created from a tree planted by Charlotte.

On Monday, there will be a special open day, when visitors with BD21 or BD22 postcodes will be allowed free admission, by presenting proof of their address.

The museum will also be offering visitors aged 80 and over free admission throughout August.

At Monday’s open day, artist Lesley Martin will be working with visitors to create a giant artwork on the Parsonage front lawn, made from natural materials. Visitors are invited to bring along their own flowers and leaves found on walks in the area, and to learn about the plants growing around the Parsonage.

Photographer Kate Potter will be an artist-in-residence at the museum on Tuesday, August 12, as part of a special project photographing 21st century visitors posing as Charlotte, Emily or Anne Brontë, using traditional collodion photographic techniques.

On Friday, August 22, chainsaw artist Dominic Clare will be creating a sculpture from a tree felled in the Parsonage garden earlier this year.

The tree was believed to have been planted by Charlotte Brontë who brought the sapling back from her honeymoon in Ireland. Visitors will be able to watch Dominic carving the sculpture in the museum garden.

On Wednesday, August 27, and Thursday, August 28, puppetry theatre company Frolicked will be performing a specially-commissioned piece based on the Brontës, in and around the museum. Visitors can watch the literary family’s servants come to life in unexpected places!

These events form part of the museum’s contemporary arts programme and are free on admission to the museum.

Also running at the museum in its anniversary year is the first exhibition devoted solely to Emily Brontë – No Coward Soul – which includes a portrait of her loaned by the National Portrait Gallery, right.

“It’s a rare opportunity to see it outside London,” says collections manager Ann Dinsdale. “The National Portrait Gallery is usually reluctant to loan it out because it’s one of its most popular images.

“It was originally part of a family group portrait and one of only two known such portraits painted by Branwell.”

The exhibition also includes a manuscript of Emily’s Gondal poems and an 1858 reissue of Wuthering Heights, containing Emily’s biography notes, along with newspaper cuttings of reviews.

“There’s little surviving evidence of Emily’s personality,” says Ann. “She didn’t have the recognition that Charlotte had in her lifetime and is thought to have cared little about success, but the reviews of Wuthering Heights found in her writing desk suggest she did care how her work was received.”

Also on display is a photograph of part of Emily’s 1846 poetry collection. Taken in the 1930s, the photograph was from Sir Alfred J Law’s collection. “He amassed an extensive collection of Brontë manuscripts and books, including a notebook containing some of the best poems by Emily. It disappeared after his death, this photograph is all that remains,” says Ann. New guided tours launched at the Parsonage give visitors a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes, accompanied by an expert. The tours allow visitors to see treasures from the Brontë Society’s world-famous collections in the reference library.

“The tours provide more of an insight into the Parsonage than you’d usually get,” says Ann. “Having an expert on hand to provide more information and answer questions is a huge benefit. The tours are held earlier in the day to get a head start, before other visitors are admitted.”

The Brontë Parsonage Museum’s contemporary arts programme, also running this year, celebrates the ways in which the Brontës’ lives and works have continued to inspire writers and artists across three centuries.

Beryl Bainbridge, Simon Armitage, Bonnie Greer, Helen Dunmore, Patsy Stoneman and Toby Litt are among the writers contributing to the arts programme, which includes visual arts, theatre, music, poetry, talks and workshops.

As well as showcasing new responses to the Brontës and their works from established writers and artists, the programme seeks to encourage regional creative talent, offering opportunities to collaborate on special projects and allowing visitors to experience the Parsonage in imaginative ways and to explore their own creativity.

For more about the Brontë Parsonage Museum’s 80th anniversary celebrations and contemporary arts programme ring (01535) 642323 or visit bronte.org.uk