Anger as tree planted by Charlotte Bronte used to fix CCTV at Bronte Parsonage Museum in UK

THE nailing of a CCTV camera to a tree said to have been planted by Charlotte Bronte nearly 200 years ago has sparked outrage.

Mia Wasikowska in a scene from the 2011 film Jane Eyre based on Charlotte Bronte’s novel.

IT’S hardly a surprise that there are CCTV cameras trained on the home of the Bronte sisters – now a museum and national treasure where some of the greatest English novels were written.

But the decision to nail a camera – complete with an electrical box and cables – to a tree said to have been planted by Charlotte nearly 200 years ago has sparked outrage among literary enthusiasts.

They now plan to complain to English Heritage about the “eyesore” which they say ruins the iconic view of the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, West Yorkshire.

Local resident Justin Ponter, 42, moved to the town to learn more about the Bronte family.

19th century writer Charlotte Bronte.

He said: “I’ve spent a lot of time at the parsonage, so I quickly spotted this camera which had just been stuck on to a tree that’s 160 years old.

“It’s ridiculous. They’ve nail-clipped a cable up the back of the tree which has gone into a big grey box and they’ve then lashed jubilee clips around the tree trunk.

“I think they hoped no-one would notice it, but they’ve placed this monstrosity right in the middle of their most iconic view.

“The tree is one of the last remaining things of the Brontes’ and they’ve treated it like a botched job on a telegraph pole.”

It is believed Charlotte, who wrote her 1847 novel Jane Eyre at the parsonage, planted two cypress-pines with her husband Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854 to commemorate their wedding. She died the following year. One tree was felled in 2008 due to disease, but the remaining tree is a vital link with the past.

A spokesman for the Bronte Society, which runs the museum, said: “We take seriously any concerns made to us about such matters. We will be carrying out our own investigations.”

In 2010 the Haworth Conservation Area, which includes the Grade I-listed parsonage, was added to English Heritage’s at-risk register due to modern additions and poor maintenance in the town, which were said to be eroding its character. It was removed from the list in October last year.

Mia Wasikowska stars in the in 2011 film Jane Eyre.

An English Heritage spokesman said: “We were recently asked to comment on listed building consent for a number of alterations to the Bronte Parsonage, including the addition of CCTV.

“We advised that it should be fixed to mortar joints, to minimise damage to the masonry.

“The application did not cover CCTV units in any other location. In many cases the installation of CCTV can take place without planning consent.”