Lorraine Worsley-CarterLast year I was invited to attend an open day of a stately home in Middleton, Greater Manchester. I was delighted to be invited as my husband, Bob, and I had viewed the hall from afar when we spied it on one of our many walks exploring various boroughs’ parklands during the more liberal rules of Lockdown. We had pressed our faces through the railings wondering if this beautiful building could ever return to its former glory. As we are not from the area, we did not know that in fact it was certainly being nurtured and saved but, like all things that the pandemic robbed us of at that time, the hall’s renovation work was on hold.
But the renovations were certainly back on track on a wet Saturday in May 2023 when Bob and I parked our car and walked the pathway to Hopwood Hall Estate. We were warmly greeted as we proceeded through the archway to the hall. The greetings continued from the many volunteers at their stations, all sporting beautiful sunflower badges, until we were shown into the Great Hall. I was immediately struck by the beautiful fireplace and the words ‘By degrees’ etched into the stonework. I noticed a gentleman with a clipboard, and I asked him if he would be so kind as to point out Hopwood DePree to me. “I am he!” was his response. “Welcome to Hopwood Hall,” he continued as he shook our hands.
Little over a year has transpired, and now Bob and I have come to know this extraordinary and wonderfully creative person, Hopwood DePree, who is putting his all into saving Hopwood Hall.
So, who is Hopwood DePree? Raised in Holland, Michigan, he graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. A critically acclaimed writer, performer and independent filmmaker, he now works full-time on the restoration of his ancestral Hopwood Hall.
Why would a talented, creative American come to Greater Manchester to save a crumbling stately home? The story can be told best of all in Hopwood DePree’s own words. “When I was six, my mother took our family on a road trip from Michigan to Hopwood in Pennsylvania – the town my ancestors founded after settling in the colonies in the 1700s. The Hopwoods remained there for centuries, passing the story of a long-lost English family estate down through the generations to my grandfather, who was born and raised in Hopwood, Pennsylvania, too. When my great grandmother, Alcinda Hopwood, married, she was concerned that the Hopwood surname would be lost forever. So, when my grandfather was born in 1911, she insisted that his middle name would be Hopwood, to prevent her family heritage from being forgotten – so this was how I also was given the name Hopwood. My grandfather used to tell me bedtime stories about our family forebearers and an ancestral ‘castle’ in England named Hopwood Hall. Of course, I thought he was telling me fairytales to make me proud of the name that caused me such grief in kindergarten.
“Many decades later when I was an adult living in Hollywood Hills, California, I began to have a renewed interest in the origins of my name and family history. Both my father and grandfather had passed away within a short amount of time and those losses left me searching for something deeper.
“I realised that I found a sense of comfort in tracing the past. Little did I know that my research on Ancestry.com and Google was about to lead me to a life-altering discovery, but that is exactly what happened in 2013 when I found photos of 600-year-old Hopwood Hall in Middleton, England”.
“In a flash, all the years of doubting my grandfather’s stories came to an abrupt halt. I was instantly struck with an overwhelming sense of awe and wonder. Was Hopwood Hall indeed the castle that grandfather had always told me about? Looking at the multitude of windows, the extraordinary brickwork, the numerous chimneys I thought it had to be!”
Having researched further, Hopwood found an email address for Rochdale Town Council and wrote asking if the Hall was still around. Happily, by the next morning, Hopwood had been contacted by a local historian, Mr Geoff Wellens, who was obviously truly passionate about the hall. It was not long before the emails moved on to a telephone call, and Geoff was able to fill in some of gaps about the history of the hall. Hopwood was sad to learn that the last two Hopwood male heirs in England were killed during World War I, along with no less than 24 staff members. The Hopwood parents, devastated by the loss of both their sons and beloved staff, felt they could not continue living on the estate. After 500 years of Hopwoods at Hopwood Hall, the family departed.
The hall was later bought by the De La Salle Brothers in 1946 who opened the De La Salle Teacher Training College, which trained thousands of teachers before its closure in 1989. In the 1990s the hall and its estate were sold to Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council who ran it for a short time as a community college. However, the upkeep proved too costly and in 1998 Historic England had placed Hopwood Hall on its Heritage At Risk Register.
Geoff posed a question to Hopwood: “When are you coming over?”
Hopwood travelled from Los Angeles to Manchester in May 2013.
He takes up the story once more:
“Upon arriving at Hopwood Hall, I felt like I had stepped into a real-life story book. The estate was everything my grandfather had said, and more. As we walked in, Geoff introduced me to Bob Wall, the matter-of-fact, straight-talking caretaker who had been hired by the local town council. Looking around at the state of disrepair, I could not help but silently wonder what exactly he was taking care of. Once I spoke with Bob, I realised that he, too, was passionate about saving the hall, but the place suffered from a major lack of funds. Both Bob and Geoff were long-term local residents whose families had lived there for generations, so they were quick to point out that their own ancestors had lived and worked at the hall.
“Everywhere I looked, I found astonishing links to my family history. I saw a fireplace inscribed with the year 1658, original beams dating to the 1420s, and a ceremonial wall plaque commemorating a 1689 marriage between my ancestors. I savoured the experience of seeing architectural features that my forbears would have used hundreds of years ago; the worn banisters they touched, the door handles they turned, and the inglenook they gathered in for warmth. Bob also showed me the small ‘birthing room’ where my fourteenth great-grandfather was born. The same wood panelling and fireplace, spared by the ravage of time, allowed me to reach across the centuries and connect with the past.
“Walking through the hall’s timeworn corridors, I was confronted by a stark reality. The once grand estate was on the verge of complete collapse, with crumbling walls, sagging ceilings, and encroaching mold threatening to erase centuries of history. Realisation quickly dawned that time was running out for Hopwood Hall. Bob informed me that without intervention in the next five to ten years, the building would collapse and become a ruin.”
I asked Hopwood if this was the moment that the ultimate decision had to be made. Would he decide to save the hall before it became a ruin?
Hopwood nodded enthusiastically.
“I knew that something unusual was happening in my mind. I felt an immediate sense of personal duty to help fend off the lead thieves, leaking roofs, and creeping dry rot. Faced with the estate’s grim situation, I remember thinking that if I was the only living Hopwood descendant in a position to do something to save the hall, then I must do it.
“Before my visit to the UK, my concept of historic homes was shaped by my 1920s Hollywood Hills stucco and red-tiled Spanish bungalow. Hopwood Hall began to redefine my understanding of history and heritage. In the coming months and years, as I made numerous trips back and forth from LA to Manchester to further the rescue effort, my excitement continued to grow.
“Learning about my family history from Geoff was an incredible gift that fuelled me.
Fortunately, he happened to be the caretaker of a nearby 11th century church with an ornately carved Hopwood pew, and cellars containing dusty old handwritten ledgers and maps. The church was a treasure trove of details about the Hopwood family, as was the town library next door.
“I learned that my relative Lady Susan Hopwood (1818-1906) who lived at the Hall was a pioneering environmentalist who spoke to crowds of thousands and battled for laws and fines to curb pollution from Manchester’s mills. Hearing her story and learning how she stood up and fought for her beliefs inspired me with confidence to do the same to help save Hopwood Hall.”
Toward the end of 2017, Hopwood obtained a UK visa and left LA to move to England full-time. He was on a mission to revive, restore and recreate Hopwood Hall so it could be operational once again. I asked him how his friends in LA took the news of his newfound path.
“Of course, all my friends back home thought I was crazy!” he smiled. “Nonetheless, I forged ahead and, with recently purchased umbrella and a wax jacket, I embarked on a new chapter.
“Hopwood Hall has taught me about reinvention. Like nearly all past residents of England’s historic homes, their ancestors had to constantly bob and weave around unexpected challenges to keep the estate afloat. Each century seemed to bring with it new industry; Hopwood Hall went from farming in the 1400s to milling wheat in the 1500s, followed by timber in the 1600s, mining in the 1700s, and textiles in the 1800s. These adaptions made my own leap from the entertainment business in Southern California to the restoration of a dilapidated ancestral home in the Northwest England seem quite reasonable – even though I had no construction skills, my creative spirit has soared.”
I asked Hopwood if he had formed a vision for the future of the hall – and he certainly has!
“I have been able to envision so clearly what the hall can become in the future. Perhaps for the 21st century, the hall’s new industry will be entertainment. We are well on our way with plans to develop Hopwood Hall into a destination cultural retreat with accommodation and art, theatre, music and film events”.
But had Hopwood received the legendary warmth of welcome that us Northerners are known for. He told me that he certainly has:
“One of the most unexpected joys that tethers me on this journey has been the forming of deep friendships in the UK. I have learned so much from residents. Like Geoff and Bob, many of these people have ancestors who worked at the hall and have brought wonderful photos and memorabilia depicting life at the hall over the years. Residents in the area have returned old books, furniture, and artwork that they believe once belonged to the hall. Some seniors have donated their family heirlooms – including a grandfather clock from 1699 – as a legacy gift to the hall. These donors have the comfort of knowing that their much-cherished items will be housed and appreciated for the long term. Other people have come forward with their own stories of relatives who worked at the hall during World War II. Indeed during the war, because management was afraid that their employees would be bombed in central Manchester, the Lancashire Cotton Company moved to Hopwood Hall.”
I asked Hopwood if there was now a typical day in his new life as saviour of Hopwood Hall. “Emails and phone calls consume most of the morning, then I meet with our team of heritage experts and our dedicated volunteers. With major support from grant funders such as Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the Architectural Heritage Fund, we have been able to make great strides. I helped found the Hopwood Foundation for Heritage, Arts, Education, and Inspiration, and achieving UK registered charity status marked a significant milestone in the collective effort to save Hopwood Hall.”
I mentioned to Hopwood my personal admiration for his team when I met them, especially as I had the opportunity to spend some time on my visits to the hall to meet the volunteers. The volunteers have formed several separate groups, each focused on a specific area. On my last visit, the gardening club had won a second award for their work on restoring the hall’s gardens. There is also the Archive Club, which focuses on finding, organising, cataloguing, and protecting historic materials; the Fundraising Club; and the Preservation Club, which prioritises securing, protecting, and improving the hall. Hopwood Hall is literally a hive of worker bees!
One of the goals of the Hopwood Hall restoration project is to seamlessly interweave an educational component by using experts and artisans to train people interested in learning heritage skills. I asked Hopwood how this was progressing.
“We are engaging with primary schools, as well as nearby colleges and universities, and often run heritage skills training workshops to teach people how to make leaded glass windows, create and repair historic plaster designs and moldings, and carve wood. Additional types of crafts will be added in the future. It is extremely rewarding to watch someone (including me!) learn these techniques and then have their work incorporated into the hall’s restoration.
“The Hopwood Hall adventure has also taken me in other unexpected directions. After many people contacted me, wishing that they too, could locate their ancestral homes, I helped to co-found Storied Collection, a company that represents numerous privately owned castles, manors, and estates throughout the UK and Ireland. In collaboration with Ancestry.com, users can now search for ancestral homes, connect with the properties directly, and rent them for private stays, family retreats and weddings.
“Overall, my journey from being an American with a strange name to a custodian of Hopwood Hall has been a testament to the power of familial stories, community support, and a deep sense of responsibility. The restoration of Hopwood Hall is not merely about preserving the past, it is an ongoing narrative of resilience, adaption, and the enduring spirit of preservation. As the restoration efforts continue, I remain committed to ensuring that the rich history within these walls of Hopwood Hall stands as a testament to the legacy of all those who came before us.”
Of course, being the creative that Hopwood is, he has used the power of film and of the written word to document the renovation progress. He has launched a YouTube channel and has written a fascinating book, Downton Shabby, chronicling his adventure to date.
I have every faith that Hopwood will realise his vision for the Hopwood Hall, and, on that day, I am sure that the wording ‘By degrees’ on that beautiful fireplace I saw on my first visit will have a resonance; because, by degrees, Hopwood DePree will have saved Hopwood Hall Estate for posterity.
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