Rochdale explores Hopwood Hall options after celebrity snub
The council will invest £100,000 looking into future uses for the grade two-listed hall following the cancellation of an exclusivity agreement with Hopwood DePree earlier this month.
Rochdale Council, which has criticised the sluggishness of the project since DePree signed the agreement in 2017, will also invest £600,000 in repairing the roof in the new year.
DePree, who claims to be a descendant of the Hopwood family, failed to come up with a viable business case for Hopwood Hall, prompting the council to cut ties. DePree disputes this, claiming he was “misled” by the authority.
Between 2017 and 2024, the council renewed the exclusivity agreement four times and secured £959,000 of grants from Historic England for essential repairs, the council said.
The authority also provided £557,000 of match funding but DePree’s Hopwood Foundation “has not contributed financially to these works”, according to Rochdale.
During that time, repairs within the building have been documented by DePree in a series of YouTube videos and a book titled Downton Shabby: One American’s Ultimate DIY Adventure.
No longer bound by an exclusivity agreement, which would have allowed DePree to acquire the building for a nominal fee subject to a viable business case, the council is now free to explore options for the future use of the Middleton building.
Cllr Danny Meredith, cabinet member for regeneration at Rochdale Council, said the feasibility study is crucial to preserving the building.
“This building is very important, so we need to explore all options for its future.
“We are continuing conversations with key partners like Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and they will remain involved as the restoration work goes on.”
He added: “As owners of a building that means so much to our residents, we have a duty to explore all options and we’ve not been able to do this under the terms of the recently lapsed agreement. We can guarantee that whatever the future looks like, the community will be involved.”
The end of the exclusivity agreement came as both a surprise and a blow to the many volunteers who have pitched in on the project over the years. Some of whom have been critical of the council’s decision.
“We know that many local residents have put their heart and soul into Hopwood Hall’s restoration as volunteers on the project,” said Leader of Rochdale Council, Cllr Neil Emmott.
“We’re very clear that we will continue to involve those volunteers and the wider community in any future plans.”
Before Hopwood DePree came along, the building was falling into significant disrepair. Why should we believe under the Council’s leadership they can do better than Hopwood and his volunteers? Hopwood and his volunteers have accomplished far more than the Council previously accomplished.
By Bryan Mecklenburg
Historic England provided the grant funding, not Homes England.
By Nick Barton
Thanks Nick. You are right. This has now been amended. Cheers, Dan
By Dan Whelan
It will be interesting to see if Rochdale do next and if they come up with the money .
By Wislon
Don’t believe everything you read see the petition by the Middleton Community
By Anonymous
Given RBH’s deplorable track record ‘caring’ for Middletons historic buildings ie- Tonge Hall, Providence church and numerous Edgar Wood buildings in the town, why would anyone trust them with this historic building.
They had ownership for at least a decade before Hopwood DuPree showed an interest.
Please ask RBH what they did with the hall during the decade they were sole owners?
By Anonymous
What a load of one sided twaddle
By Anonymous
So how come no one did anything with this building before Mr Depree and the volunteers started actually doing work on it
By Donna
I wonder if Councillor Neil Emmott really imagines that the volunteers will want to continue their work after the way they have been treated by RMBC. They were in tears at the meeting last night and left me in no doubt that they were disgusted at the way they had been barred from entering Hopwood Hall and would certainly be in no hurry to do any volunteering if Mr DePree was not involved
By Elaine Turner
Why did you not take an Interest before Hopwood DePree came along. The building was a shambles and left to rot
By Karen
Very easy to say it’s such an important building after Hopwood has spearheaded and pushed the restoration efforts?
They were the ones who had allowed it to fall into ruin and I’m sure it would have deteriorated even more and remained untouched until now.
Foxdenton Hall (Oldham council) nearby has deteriorated significantly in the last 7 years since I’ve lived in the area. It seems mad that no essential work is kept up on these buildings (i.e keeping them water tight) and they’re left to rot until it’s millions of pounds worth of restoration instead.
By Anonymous
If Hopwood Hall was important to Rochdale Council, why did they abandon it to the elements, and let it decay for 20 years?
By Mark Thompson
So RMBC, RDA and HH College have had a Damascene moment and now see a golden opportunity (and a viable access) warranting a £100,000 spend on a viability study for the site. Where was the interest before Mr De Pree and his loyal army of volunteers answered the call to rescue the highly significant Grade II* building? And significant works to the roof and pointing of elevations has already occurred. Taking glory for the efforts of others is never a good look but then the Council’s reputation for its treatment of heritage assets is starkly evident in its permitting of college development on the doorstep of the hall that has harmed the setting of the heritage asset. Mr De Pree has added enormous value to the hall through publicity, building a loyal community and putting in his own money. The Council are deluding themselves if they think this will continue without Mr De Pree at the helm.
By Planning Periscope
It seems that the council is being rather disingenuous. Bearing in mind that the council had, for decades, allowed the buildings to decay, they have had huge efforts made to restore the estate by the Hopwood volunteers. Have a look at Hopwood DePree’s YouTube channel to see what has been achieved and make your mind up on whether the council has been honourable.
By Christine Hawksworth
This is ridiculous”DePree, who claims to be a descendant of the Hopwood family” He IS a descendent!! Such a one sided article. The council would have let it rot! The volunteers will never work for them. There will be so much bad feeling on the community if they take it away now.
By Jessica Doidge