Hopwood Hall is a Grade II*historic house in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England, which was the ancestral country home of the landed gentry family of Hopwood who held it from the 12th century, passing to the Gregge (later Gregge-Hopwood, then Hopwood) family and remaining in their possession until it was closed up in 1922.[1] The Hall was sold in 1946, and after a series of temporary residents, by the 1980s it had fallen into disrepair. Since 2018 the Hall has undergone elements of restoration funded by Historic England and Rochdale Council, who are the owners of the building. A limited licence to occupy was granted by the Council to Hopwood DePree, an American actor who is descended from the Hopwoods through John Hopwood (1745–1802).
Hopwood Hall was founded as a moated site.[clarification needed] Later, the property had pleasure grounds and an extensive park with scattered woods. Features in the grounds included a kitchen garden, ice house, ha-ha, Italian garden, fountain, corn mill and small cross-shaped bower or grotto.[2]
The property is conjectured by historians to have first been built upon in the 12th century, possibly by Normans in the period after the Norman Conquest. It is thought there may be archaeological remains of former structures underneath the current hall.[3] The family name Hopwood is a corruption of "Hopwode", from the Old Englishhop (valley among hills) + wudu (wood), and dates from when a knight was granted land between the then townships of Hopwood, Thornham, and Middleton. These estates – Hopwood, Birch, Stanleycliffe and Thornham – were owned thereafter by the family of "Hopwode de Hopwode". The family is documented since before 1380, when Alain de Hopwood was mentioned. Edmund Hopwood was a magistrate and High Sheriff of Lancashire during the Commonwealth of England, and a member of the Presbyterian congregation at Bury. For at least 500 years, the Hopwoods were interred at the Church of St Leonard, Middleton.[4][1]
Hopwood Hall is a Grade II*-listed two-storey brick-and-stone manor house, built in a quadrangle around a timber-framed hall that has been dated to 1426. It is approximately 50,000square feet under the roof, and the estate grounds were originally over 5,000acres before being parceled out in later years.[5][3] Some of the current building dates back to the early 17th century, with some late-16th century elements.[6] The 1830s ice house on the grounds is also listed.[7][8] Hopwood Hall has been recognized for its collection of unusual intricate Jacobean stonework and wood carvings around fireplaces and doors.[9] One carving of a lion looks more like a monkey; it is believed the artist had never seen a lion before and was working from a written description.[3] A carving on the fireplace in "The Lord Byron bedroom" is thought to be a likeness of the 14th-century Edward II of England.[5]
By 1750, the number of staff at Hopwood Hall was greater than the entire population of Middleton, the village in which it is located.[9] This included butlers, maids, cooks, cleaners, attendants, carriage drivers, farmers, beekeepers, blacksmiths, butchers, weavers, wood cutters, carpenters, stablehands, horsemen and ice keepers. It had its own farm, mill, brewery, buttery, cheesery, icehouse and orangery for fresh fruit.[9]
The two Hopwood male heirs, Edward and Robert Hopwood, were killed during World War I.[10] Of the estimated 30 people, staff and family, who left the hall to serve in the war, only four returned.[9] The grieving elderly parents closed up the property and moved to London May 1922.[5] It was put up for sale but there were no buyers.[11] During World War II the hall was sold to the Lancashire Cotton Corporation, who manufactured military uniforms; they used it, in conjunction with Blackfriars House, to run the firm during the war years[10] because it was a less conspicuous target for German bombers than a factory in Manchester.[3]
After the war, in 1946, the hall was sold to a trust and became part of De La Salle College, a Roman Catholic teacher training College.[11] On part of the estate grounds, the De La Salle Brothers built a concrete chapel (1964–65) designed by Frederick Gibberd (the architect of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral), now deconsecrated but a listed building.[12] It has been retained for use by Hopwood Hall College as the Milnrow Building.[13]
In 1957, the hall was declared a building of historic interest.[10] For a period, the monks made the basement into a bar and music venue for area college students, to raise revenue for upkeep of the hall; graffiti that reads "Get down and boogie" is still visible on a wall.[9] Bands that played there included Black Sabbath, UB40 and Madness.[3]John Lennon reportedly came there one time from Manchester to help a friend's band.[3] In 1989, the Catholic college closed and Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) bought the estate in the 1990s.[10] A community college Hopwood Hall College was built on the grounds in 1992; Queen Elizabeth came for the opening, but the hall itself was vacated and fenced off, with only a caretaker to watch over it.[10]
RMBC did not have the resources to renovate or properly maintain the hall,[5] and in 1998, Historic England placed it on its Heritage at Risk Register.[10] In 2017, the property was 5 to 10 years away from being largely unsalvageable - dry rotted wood was the norm, water seeped from the walls and roof, floors laid bare to earth, windows were missing, a tree grew from the chimney, buildings had been vandalized.[5]
In September 2017, the American actor and entrepreneur Hopwood DePree signed a licence to occupy for Hopwood Hall which allowed for some filming.[5] DePree became interested in the property after researching his family history online and coming to visit;[5] RMBC verified his family connection through American Revolutionary War-era civil servant John Hopwood, and based on that connection, offered him an opportunity to buy it under conditions that he properly restore and maintain it, at which point he would become the new owner. DePree said, "I don't think any of this would have happened without that connection."[5] DePree, who had been living in Hollywood, moved to England to pursue the restoration full time.[14][15] Emergency work to make the building structurally sound and waterproof started in May 2018.[16]
As of June2022[update] restoration is ongoing, at an estimated eventual cost of approximately £10.7million ($13million), and annual maintenance is estimated at £650,000 ($800,000), with funds raised by DePree, the Council and other sources.[5] DePree published a book called Downton Shabby documenting the process.[17]
Famous guests
The poet George Gordon Byron, 6th Lord Byron (1788–1824) stayed with the Gregge-Hopwood family at Hopwood Hall from the end of September 1811 for around 10 days. He had come up to try and sell parts of the Byron family estate in Rochdale, a complex deal that was not to be completed fully in his lifetime. The 23-year-old poet probably spent his days at the Hall revising the draft of his ground-breaking poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.[18] In appreciation of the success of the poem, Byron gifted the Hopwood Family an extravagant fireplace dated 1658 which remains in the hall today.[19]
Rochdale is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the 2021 census the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wider borough. Rochdale is in the foothills of the South Pennines and lies in the dale (valley) of the River Roch, 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Oldham, and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Manchester.
Middleton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Rochdale and 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Manchester. Middleton had a population of 42,972 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the northern edge of Manchester, with Blackley to the south and Moston to the south east have it large.
Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northwest of Oldham, 3.2 miles (5.1 km) southeast of Rochdale and 7.6 miles (12.2 km) northeast of Manchester.
Heywood is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, in the historic county of Lancashire. It had a population of 28,205 at the 2011 Census. The town lies on the south bank of the River Roch, 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Bury, 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Rochdale, and 8 miles (12.9 km) north of Manchester. Middleton lies to the south, whilst to the north is the Cheesden Valley, open moorland, and the Pennines. Heywood's nickname is Monkey Town.
Heywood and Middleton is a constituency in Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Chris Clarkson of the Conservative Party.
Thornham is a suburban area straddling Middleton, Royton and Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The area crosses the border of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale and is divided at a constituency and electoral ward level.
Alkrington Garden Village is a suburban area of Middleton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.
Werneth is an area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 12,348. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) west-southwest of Oldham's commercial centre and one of its most ancient localities. It is contiguous with Westwood, Hollinwood, Hollins and Chadderton. Werneth includes Freehold between Werneth Park and Oldham's border with Chadderton at Block Lane.
Edgar Wood was a British architect, artist and draftsman who practised from Manchester at the turn of the 20th century and gained a considerable reputation in the United Kingdom. He was regarded as a proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement which was prevalent between 1860 and 1910.
Buckley is a suburban area within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies at the northern fringe of Rochdale, along the course of Buckley Brook, "upon an eminence of ground" by the South Pennines. It is 1.2 miles (1.9 km) south-southwest of the village of Wardle and 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north-northeast of Rochdale's town centre. Buckley spans a watercourse, a prison, farmland and residential properties.
The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient office, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lancashire is the representative of the monarch in the county, and is the "Keeper of The King's Peace" in the county, executing judgements of the High Court through an Under Sheriff.
Baguley Hall is a 14th-century timber-framed building in Baguley, Greater Manchester, England.
The Municipal Borough of Middleton was, from 1886 to 1974, a municipal borough in the administrative county of Lancashire, England, coterminous with the town of Middleton.
Hopwood Hall College is a further education college in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It has two campuses, one in Rochdale (53.6168°N 2.1626°W) and one in Middleton (53.5690°N 2.1889°W). The college offers a wide range of vocational and technical study programmes aimed at young people aged 16–19, with some university level courses, Apprenticeship programmes and adult education.
Hopwood DePree is an American actor, author, comedian, filmmaker, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
The Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England, for ages 11–18. The school is named for Thomas Langley, a 15th-century prelate who hailed from Middleton.
Tonge Hall is a Grade II* listed Elizabethan manor house in Tonge, Middleton, Greater Manchester, England.
Middleton Junction is an industrial and residential district lying on the common border of Middleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale and Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Middleton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, and it is unparished. The town and the surrounding countryside contain 45 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, seven are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. Until the coming of the Industrial Revolution Middleton was a village, then came the industries of silk, cotton and coal. The oldest listed buildings consist of a church and vicarage, country houses, a school, a public house, and a bridge. The Rochdale Canal passes through the area, and locks and a bridge on it are listed. The later listed buildings include more churches, houses and schools, a drinking fountain, a bank, a club, a cotton mill, a park feature, and war memorials. The architect Edgar Wood lived in the town and he, sometimes with his partner Henry Sellars, designed some of the later listed buildings.
References
1 2 Macdonald, Charles Stuart (1963). A History of Hopwood Hall, Including the Life of Cardinal Langley, Lord Chancellor (1360-1437). Waldegrave.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
