The real-life attic that was the inspiration for a section of Jane Eyre, where mentally ill character Bertha Mason is confined before she commits suicide, is now open to the public.

Novelist Charlotte Brontë penned the ‘madwoman in the attic’ based on her experiences vising the stately home of Norton Conyers, North Yorkshire, in 1839.

Upon her visit, the author heard the homeowner’s “legend of a mad woman who had, sometime in the previous century, been confined in a remote attic room still known as ‘Mad Mary’s Room’”, the house’s website states.

Eight years later, Brontë based Mason – the wife of her protagonist’s love interest Edward Rochester – on this elusive tale.

In the book Jane Eyre, Mason is locked away in the upper enclaves of the home for ten years by her husband for being ‘mad’, before she sets fire to the home she shares with her spouse and throws herself off the roof.

The Brontë sisters on screen Show all 12 1 /12 The Brontë sisters on screen The Brontë sisters on screen Wuthering Heights (1939) William Wyler's 1939 take on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights starred Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon as Heathcliff and Cathy. The story follows the doomed love affair between a Victorian girl and a gypsy Rex Features The Brontë sisters on screen Wuthering Heights (1939) Olivier and Oberon in another film still from 1939's Wuthering Heights Rex Features The Brontë sisters on screen Jane Eyre (1943) Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles star in Robert Stevenson's 1943 film of Charlotte Brontë's gothic romance, Jane Eyre. Elizabeth Taylor makes an early uncredited appearance as Jane's schoolfriend Helen Burns Rex Features The Brontë sisters on screen Wuthering Heights (1970) Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall as Heathcliff and Catherine in the 1970 film of Wuthering Heights Rex Features The Brontë sisters on screen Wuthering Heights (1992) Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes play Catherine and Heathcliff in Pete Kosminsky's 1992 movie adaptation of Wuthering Heights Rex Features The Brontë sisters on screen The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996) Toby Stephens, Tara Fitzgerald and Rupert Graves starred in a 1996 TV mini-series based on Anne Brontë's little-known 1848 novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall The Brontë sisters on screen Wuthering Heights (1998) Robert Cavanah and Orla Brady star in the 1998 TV adaptation of Wuthering Heights, directed by David Skynner and also featuring Peter Davison Rex Features The Brontë sisters on screen Jane Eyre (2007) Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens star as Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester in Susanna White's 2006 TV adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's classic 19th century romantic novel AP The Brontë sisters on screen Wuthering Heights (2009) Tom Hardy plays Heathcliff in ITV's 2009 adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, alongside his current partner Charlotte Riley AP The Brontë sisters on screen Wuthering Heights (2011) Andrea Arnold's 2011 film version of Wuthering Heights joins a line of adaptations of Emily Brontë's only surviving novel. Kaya Scodelario is Catherine and James Howson is Heathcliff The Brontë sisters on screen Jane Eyre (2011) Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender star in Cary Fukunaga's 2011 movie adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel, Jane Eyre AP The Brontë sisters on screen Jane Eyre (2011) Michael Fassbender as Rochester and Imogen Poots as Blanche Ingram in a recent Jane Eyre Focus Features

According to Norton Conyers, Brontë also drew inspiration for the fictional home of Mr Rochester, ‘Thornfield Hall’, from her visit.

The owners of Norton Conyers say they found a hidden staircase with strong similarities to the one in Jane Eyre, which “[Mr Rochester] uses to reach his wife’s attic”, in 2004.

The Norton Conyers manor house, which Charlotte Brontë visited in 1839 (Rex)

Members of the public can now book tours as the home undergoes a large restoration project, visiting the work in progress as well as the attic.

The home is due to be fully open in July 2015, the owner told The Independent, following eight years of work.

The Grade II-listed 17 century manor home is owned by Sir James and Lady Graham and has been in the family since 1624.

It just been announced the winner of the Historic Houses Association & Sotheby’s Restoration Award 2014, for the owners’ “[dedication] towards the maintenance of this special place,” President of the Historic Houses Association, Richard Compton, said.

Lady Graham told MailOnline: "While we're restoring other parts of the house, we wanted to leave the attic exactly as it is. It wouldn't have the right atmosphere if it was given a new coat of paint.

"The house itself is extremely ancient - we've discovered it has Viking origins and the timbers including in the attic date to the late Medieval period - so we can't have hordes of people."