THE story of Charlotte Bronte's visits to Gawthorpe Hall is told in a new exhibition at the Padiham museum.

It is 150 years since the novelist's best-known work, Jane Eyre, was published, and the exhibition highlights one aspect of the fame which the book's success brought her.

Sir James and Lady Kay-Shuttle- worth, of Gawthorpe Hall, sought Charlotte's company and she visited the home twice in the 1850s.

The exhibition, opening on Good Friday, March 28, features letters between Charlotte and the Kay-Shuttleworths and her biographer Elizabeth Gaskell.

Also included are pictures, documents, books, period costume and other artefacts on loan from museums, organisations and individuals. Dramatic re-enactments, walks, lectures, guided tours and Victorian afternoon teas are also planned.

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