For centuries, the Grade II* listed manor house served as the social and economic heart of the communities around Middleton and Rochdale. By the time American actor and filmmaker Hopwood DePree first walked through its gates in 2017, decades of neglect had left the estate in serious decline.

After discovering his ancestral connection to the Hall, DePree left behind his life in Los Angeles to lead an ambitious rescue project that would ultimately attract hundreds of volunteers, secure major heritage funding and breathe new life into the estate.

What began as a personal journey soon became one of Greater Manchester’s most remarkable examples of community-led heritage regeneration.

Hopwood DePree chronicles his journey from discovering his family connection to Hopwood Hall to relocating from Los Angeles to help restore the historic estate in his book, Downton Shabby.

Just 120 miles away, Delapré Abbey in Northampton was once another crumbling medieval estate with an uncertain future. A partnership between the local council, preservation trust and community volunteers secured Heritage Lottery funding of £3.65 million and transformed it into a multi award-winning visitor attraction within five years. Since its opening in March 2018, the heritage attraction has become a popular leisure destination featuring an orangery café, gardens, and a venue for seasonal festivals and immersive events. In 2025, it welcomed more than 393,000 visitors.

Hopwood Hall appeared destined to follow a similar path. It didn’t.

A Grassroots Revival

“We were able to come in and with the community and my family, rolled up our sleeves and we got to work. We started shovelling away mud and cleaning up broken glass and we opened the doors for the first time in three decades,” Depree said.

“It was a huge milestone.”

Over the next five years, the project transformed from an abandoned ruin into a vibrant community hub. Local volunteers, many of them elderly residents seeking connection after the isolation of pandemic lockdowns, cleared tons of debris, repaired historic masonry and brought forgotten gardens back to life. Their efforts earned three Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) awards.

“The council gave us permission to bring about 100 people through in small groups for health and safety. We handed out hard hats and high-vis vests. 

“We were amazed when 600 people joined the waiting list instantly. 
“Right then and there, we knew there was an incredible local hunger to reconnect with this history.”

– Hopwood Depre

DePree’s love for the people and the estate was immediate, as well. 

“Initially, I didn’t realise I was going to give up my life in the States and move over here. But as I started making regular trips to get involved in it, each time more community people would come out and welcome me into their home for tea and cakes. And you know, for just such a welcoming, pleasant environment.

“Being from another country to step into a place where you almost felt like a local, which is really great.”

DePree says he has spent £750,000 of his own money on the project, alongside securing major backing from Historic England, the Architectural Heritage Fund, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The ultimate goal of Hopwood Hall Estate Ltd was self-sufficiency: a hybrid operational model combining commercial activities such as weddings, corporate retreats, and film location shoots, with free community access, educational events, and traditional heritage-skills training.

The Business Plan and the Sudden Lockout

For several years, the restoration appeared to be gathering momentum. But the dispute between DePree’s team and Rochdale Borough Council eventually came to a head, with the council locking the team out of the Hall in November 2024.

“It’s coming up on almost two years since we were locked out without any explanation.”

“They didn’t give us any formal explanation prior to them going to the media. We’ve made a lot of Freedom of Information requests. It’s still not clear to us,” DePree said.

The council has previously said any sale would depend on DePree having “a commercially viable business model to secure the long-term future of the hall”. In November 2024, it said consultants had concluded his plans were “unlikely to be able to secure future public or private funding”.

Council leader Neil Emmott said the authority would be failing in its duty to protect the historic asset if it did not hold DePree to the terms of the agreement.

DePree disputes the council’s assessment. 

“They claimed in the media that we didn’t have a business plan, yet we had submitted a 43-page business strategy that they had previously signed off on and supported,” DePree said.

In 2022, Rochdale Council granted planning permission, subject to conditions, for the Hall and grounds to be used for events, hospitality, tours, education, a café and a shop. 

The planning application also included a parking and access strategy, setting out arrangements for visitors, volunteers and deliveries around the site. 

“To step into a public volunteer effort, pour your own life savings into it, and then have the rug pulled out without direct communication was heartless,” DePree added. 

DePree says the immediate consequences were severe, with more than £350,000 in active National Lottery and private grant funding lost, and a further £500,000-plus in potential grants cancelled, which DePree attributes to delays following the council’s decision.

A bitter blow

“New friendships were formed and their pride and joy were this estate garden. And suddenly that was gone,” DePree shared.  “It was like rug was pulled out from underneath them.”

For many volunteers, the Hall had become more than a restoration project. It was a place to meet people, contribute their skills and feel part of something larger.

One former volunteer, who asked not to be named, joined the project after the Covid pandemic, having been introduced to The Hopwood Foundation by a friend. A keen gardener, she found a sense of purpose in helping restore the Hall’s gardens. At a time when she was struggling with loneliness and low mood following her retirement, she had found “true friendship” among the Friends of Hopwood Hall Estate volunteer group. 

“It really was the best day spent with a dear friend and suddenly there was a future in something I loved to do, and that was gardening,” she said.

But when the work stopped, she said, volunteers were suddenly separated from both the Hall and the friends they had made there.

“The wave of sadness of not being allowed to continue first felt like a punch in the stomach, then a big hand put in front of you, denying you access to the place you loved being because it was safe, supportive and a happy place too, whilst denying you your best volunteer buddies too.”

The volunteers have continued to meet socially, she said, with some joining other gardening groups and Manchester history walks together.

“I have learned to be a more positive person and am not frightened to approach people who look like they are in mental stress. What it has taught me is that helping others has helped me more than they can ever know.”

DePree says the gardens, which earned three RHS awards after thousands of hours of volunteer work, have now slipped back into disrepair, DePree says.

“So we’ll have a lot of work to do to pick this back up and get back to where we were two years ago. But we’re still motivated and we’re still passionate about saving the history of the hall. So we will do it.”

High Court Showdown in September 

After months of unsuccessful discussions, Hopwood Hall Estate Ltd filed a High Court claim against Rochdale Borough Council. 

The two-day trial, scheduled for September 29 and 30 at the High Court in Manchester, centres on the terms of the 2017 agreement between DePree and the council. 

DePree’s legal case argues that he fulfilled the conditions of the agreement, which gave him the option to buy the Hall for £1. The council disputes that he met the terms of the deal and has argued that his planning permission was insufficient to satisfy the conditions for the sale.

“Councils are there to support their communities, not to work against them behind closed doors without transparency.

“If a local authority lacks the resources to maintain a Grade II listed asset, it should empower the community to take control, rather than allowing historic treasures to fall into rack and ruin.”

– Hopwood DePree

The upcoming trial carries weight far beyond Middleton. As councils across North West England continue to grapple with the rising costs of maintaining historic buildings, the case may help shape the future relationship between local authorities, communities and those willing to invest their own time, expertise and resources in saving Britain’s built heritage.

DePree believes greater transparency is essential.

“There should be real legislation around transparency at councils, especially when it comes to heritage assets because there’s so many out there that are just falling into rack and ruin.”