Historic England unveils latest chapter in fight to save important North West heritage

Date published: 08 November 2018

The annual snapshot of the health of England’s historic places, the 2018 Heritage at Risk Register, has today (Thursday 8 November) been published by Historic England.

24 North West sites, including a Grade-II* listed church in Rochdale, have been added to this year’s Register, Historic England’s tool for shining a light on the listed buildings and places in England that need most help.

Looking back over the last 20 years, huge progress has been made in saving our heritage and giving it new uses – more than two thirds of entries on the original 1998 Register have been rescued. Many of the remaining entries have seen great progress – such as the historic Hopwood Hall manor house – despite being the hardest cases to solve.

Achieving this much in 20 years has depended upon sheer dogged determination by local communities, charities, owners and partners. Historic England’s technical and planning advice, grant aid and creative negotiation have all been needed to deliver people’s vision for how these places could be used.

This year, more Places of Worship have been added to the Register in the North West than removed.

Greater Manchester is one of two places in England that hopes to benefit from a pilot scheme recently launched to see listed Places of Worship repaired and improved.

The £1.8 million scheme, also running in Suffolk, will see expert advisers work with all faiths and denominations. They will help local volunteers to look after and manage Places of Worship, including churches, synagogues and meeting houses, and will also explore how they can serve their wider communities.

Charles Smith, Heritage at Risk Principal in the North West, said: “Over the past 20 years, we have used the Heritage at Risk Register to highlight places in need of care and attention. We have dedicated time, expertise and money to bring cherished places back into use and we are proud to have played our part in saving them from neglect.

“Despite the successes, other places continue to fall into disrepair - in particular, we’ve seen a rise in the number of Places of Worship at risk here in the North West.

"They have been added to this year’s Register and we will focus our attention on them in the years ahead."

Local highlights from this year’s Register in the North West

• St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church – added to the Register

St John the Baptist Church is a Roman Catholic Church with the original design dating back to pre-1917. Located on Dowling Street, the church was built in 1923-25 and upgraded to a Grade II* listed building in 2015.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/97722/st-john-the-baptist-church-upgraded-to-grade-ii*

As an urban Catholic Church designed in a Byzantine style, with a large 20m dome in the manner of Instanbul’s Hagia Sophia, the building is “clearly inspired” by the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral (1895-1903).

Internally the sanctuary mosaic uses high quality tesserae made of stone, coloured marbles and coloured glass – set off by a shimmering background of gold tesserae.

The sanctuary mosaic cost £4,000 and was designed by Eric Newton, son of Ludwig Oppenheimer and Edith Newton, and was completed on 31 October 1933. The central figure being that of Christ the King, a feast day established by Pope Pius XI, his Papal Coat of Arms and the Coat of Arms of Bishop Henshaw are on the side walls.

Unfortunately, St John the Baptist has some broken windows, the concrete reinforcement is corroding and blowing off large fragments of the concrete used in its construction.

• Hopwood Hall – in progress

The restoration of Hopwood Hall is one step closer to reality, thanks to a grant of £139,000 from Historic England, which has been matched by Rochdale Council.

Hopwood Hall has been mothballed and at risk for 30 years. It was added to the first ever Buildings at Risk Register in 1998 and has been there ever since.

The grant aid will fund £276,000 of emergency repairs, kick-starting the process of getting the house back to a stable, weather-tight condition.

The house is listed Grade II*, and dates back to the 12th century. The old hall dates back to feudal days, and still retains many structural and architectural features from the 14th century right until present day.

The original hall was of early timber construction, rebuilt in Tudor brick by John Hopwood during 1687-90.

It was added to and updated over the years as fashions changed. The different styles of windows are a clue to its differing ages.

The original 16th century hall house can still be seen in the roof trusses, screens passage door and bay window, amidst the 17th, 18th and 19th century brick additions.

The interior contains wonderful painstakingly intricate wooden carvings of people and mythical beasts, and an ornate fireplace thought to have been a gift from Lord Byron, who was a guest in 1811, which was installed by renowned Middleton architect, Edgar Wood.

The house was lived in by the Hopwood family until the 1920s. After they emigrated to the US, it passed to Lancashire Cotton Corporation, then the De La Salle brothers, and finally fell into Council ownership 30 years ago after it ceased being used by Hopwood Hall College.

Despite efforts to keep the house weather-tight, it suffered extreme dry rot, which colonised the building. Lead theft caused leaks and the house was vandalised.

Ideas and schemes for the Hall have come and gone over the years, but nothing ever took off.

Thankfully caretaker and conservationist Bob Wall has ensured that important stitch in time measures like ventilation prevented Hopwood Hall from deteriorating irretrievably. Over the years he has religiously saved every single piece of plaster that has crumbled from the walls, in the hope that they can be restored, or at least inspire a replica.

The Heritage England grant to Rochdale Council will enable critical structural repairs to the most important parts of this fascinating Grade II* listed building, one of Greater Manchester’s most important surviving manor houses.