Thornfield Hall is quite a ruin; it was burned down just about harvest time. A dreadful calamity! such an immense quantity of valuable property destroyed; hardly any other furniture could be saved. The fire broke out at dead of night, and before the engines arrived from Millcote, the building was one mass of flame. It was a terrible spectacle; I witnessed it myself.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 36. Jane learns from the proprietor of a local inn that Thornfield burned down late one night at harvest time. A lot of valuable property was lost in the blaze.