Hopwood Hall
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Hopwood Hall is a
Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
historic house A historic house generally meets several criteria before being listed by an official body as "historic." Generally the building is at least a certain age, depending on the rules for the individual list. A second factor is that the building be in ...
in
Middleton, Greater Manchester Middleton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk southwest of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester city centre. Middleton had a population of 42,972 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the ...
, 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 was closed up in 1922 and the heirs moved out.Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
-
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
two-storey brick-and-stone
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
, built in a quadrangle around a timber-framed hall that has been dated to 1426. It is approximately 50,000 square feet under roof, and the estate grounds were originally over 5,000 acres before being parceled out in later years. Some of the current building dates back to the early 17th century, with some late-16th century elements. The 1830s ice house on the grounds is also listed. Hopwood Hall has been recognized for its collection of unusual intricate,
Jacobean era The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Ca ...
stonework and wood carvings around fireplaces and doors. A old carving of a lion looks more like a monkey, it is believed the artist had never seen a lion before and was working from written description. A carving on the fireplace in "The Lord Byron bedroom" is thought to be a likeness of the 14th-century
Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
. By 1750, the number of staff at Hopwood Hall was greater than the entire population of Middleton, the village in which it is located. 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 own farm, mill, brewery, buttery, cheesery, icehouse and orangery for fresh fruit. The Hopwoods left in May 1922. The two male heirs, Edward and Robert Hopwood, were killed during World War I. Of the estimated 30 people, staff and family, who left the hall to serve in the war, only four returned. The grieving elderly parents closed up the property and moved to London. It was put up for sale but there were no buyers. The hall was sold to the
Lancashire Cotton Corporation The Lancashire Cotton Corporation was a company set up by the Bank of England in 1929, to rescue the Lancashire spinning industry by means of horizontal rationalisation. In merged 105 companies, ending up in 1950 with 53 operating mills. It wa ...
(LCC) during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
who used it, in conjunction with
Blackfriars House Blackfriars, derived from Black Friars, a common name for the Dominican Order of friars, may refer to: England * Blackfriars, Bristol, a former priory in Bristol * Blackfriars, Canterbury, a former monastery in Kent * Blackfriars, Gloucester, a f ...
, to run the firm during the war years. They manufactured military uniforms and used the hall because it was a less conspicuous target for German bombers than a factory in Manchester. 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. On part of the estate grounds, the Brothers built a concrete chapel (1964–65) designed by
Frederick Gibberd Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd (7 January 1908 – 9 January 1984) was an English architect, town planner and landscape designer. He is particularly known for his work in Harlow, Essex, and for the BISF house, a design for a prefabricated council ...
(the architect of
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, officially known as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King and locally nicknamed "Paddy's Wigwam", is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool and the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Li ...
), now deconsecrated but a listed building. It has been retained for use by Hopwood Hall College as the Milnrow Building. In 1957, the hall was declared a building of historic interest. 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 in the basement. Bands that played there included
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
,
UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...
and Madness.
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
reportedly came there one time from Manchester to help a friends band. In 1989, the Catholic college closed and Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (RBMC) bought the estate in the 1990s. A community college
Hopwood Hall College Hopwood Hall College is a further education college in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It has two campuses, one in Rochdale and one in Middleton . The college offers a wide range of vocational and technical ...
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. RBMC did not have the resources to renovate or maintain it properly. In 1998,
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
placed the hall on its
Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...
. When Hopwood DePree took over responsibility 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.


Owners and occupants


Hopwood family

The family name Hopwood is a corruption of "Hopwode", which 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". For a period of at least 500 years, the Hopwoods were interred at the
Church of St Leonard, Middleton St Leonard's is a Church of England parish church in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade I listed building. Much of the present building was erected in 1412 by Thomas L ...
. The family is documented since before 1380, when Alain de Hopwood was mentioned. Edmund Hopwood was a
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
and
High Sheriff of Lancashire The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient officer, 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 Lanc ...
during the
Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...
, and a member of the
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
congregation at
Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
.

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 Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
, 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''. A first hand account of his stay and the impression he made on the Gregge-Hopwood family and their friends can be found in "Byron’s Week in Middleton", by Anne Falloon of Middleton Archaeological Society, published in ''The Byron Journal'' (2013). In appreciation of the success of the poem, Byron gifted the Hopwood Family an extravagant fireplace dated 1658 which remains in the hall today.
Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...
visited the Hall in search of funding whilst organizing his so-called
Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...
in 1605.


See also

*
Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester There are 236 Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural ...
*
Listed buildings in Middleton, Greater Manchester Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, and it is civil parish, unparished. The town and the surrounding countryside contain 45 Listed building#England and Wales, l ...


References


External Links


Hopwood Hall Estate
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale Country houses in Greater Manchester Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester Grade II* listed houses Middleton, Greater Manchester