The family dining table where the Brontë sisters wrote some of their classic novels has been saved for the British nation.

A grant of more than £580,000 has secured the table where the family gathered to write and share ideas, and where books such as Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering Heights and Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall were written.

The table, which bears the marks of use including ink blots, a large candle burn and a small ‘E’ carved on to its surface, was sold after the death of their father Patrick in 1861, remaining in the same family ever since.

Without the grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), which exists to save the most outstanding parts of the UK’s national heritage, it would have been sold at public auction but thanks to the money it has now been secured by the Brontë Society.

The table will go on display at the Brontës’ former home, Haworth Parsonage in West Yorkshire, which is open to the public.

Carole Souter, chief executive of the NHMF, said: “The Brontë sisters are internationally revered for their contribution to English literature.

“Novels which have enthralled millions of readers were imagined and written at this table and seeing it brings to life the creative process behind the famous works.

“NHMF trustees felt it important that it should be saved for the nation so that it can be displayed to the public in its original setting.”

The Brontë sisters and their works.

Novels which have enthralled millions of readers were imagined and written at this table and seeing it brings to life the creative process behind the famous works

Ann Dinsdale, collections manager at the Brontë Parsonage, said: “We are extremely proud and excited to be bringing the Brontës’ table back to its original home.

“It is one of the most important literary artefacts of the 19th century and displaying it in the Parsonage dining room marks a wonderful commencement to our programme of activity marking the forthcoming bicentenaries of the births of the Brontë siblings.”

Heritage minister Ed Vaizey said: “The Brontës’ family dining table has a close connection with some of the most famous English literature written in the 19th century.

“The National Heritage Memorial Fund grant recognises the importance of keeping these literary artefacts on display and it’s wonderful that visitors to Brontës’ former home in Yorkshire will now be able to enjoy it in its original setting.”

The National Heritage Memorial Fund was set up in 1980 in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK, and has saved key pieces of heritage ranging from the Mary Rose to a collection of the work of World War II codebreaker Alan Turing.