WordPress that powers a manor house rescue mission

Client

Writer, actor, and comedian Hopwood DePree took on a decaying Grade II listed manor and a multi-million-pound restoration project. The campaign needed a credible web presence for funders, press, volunteers, and supporters worldwide. We delivered a lean WordPress build that a small, mixed team can publish to daily, while standing up to heritage and council scrutiny.

When Hopwood DePree uncovered his direct link to the historic Hopwood estate in Greater Manchester, he stepped into an active heritage crisis with global attention and a need for clear public communication.

He is a descendant of the Hopwood family, historic landowners whose name and estate carry weight with local communities, councils, and heritage bodies.

That family link came with a serious problem: Hopwood Hall itself, a vandalised and decaying ancestral home that required a visible rescue plan and evidence of progress.

Need For A Platform

Hopwood Hall is a Grade II listed manor on an estate tied to the Hopwood family since the 12th century. Rochdale Borough Council owns the building. A further education college used the hall for many years before moving teaching to newer facilities. The manor slipped into deep disrepair and vandalism, increasing the risk to the building.

In 2016, Hopwood secured an agreement to lead the restoration. The project involves heritage agencies, council teams, funders, volunteers, and a global community of supporters who expect a single, reliable source of updates.

Under his agreement with Rochdale Borough Council, Hopwood had a tight window to prove that a viable financial plan and active public support existed. Digital storytelling, press handling, and event promotion required a robust home that felt serious and easy to run.

Hopwood already shared the story through YouTube, press coverage, live shows, and social channels. The website had to pull those strands into a structured hub that journalists, partners, sponsors, and fans could rely on when they searched for Hopwood Hall.

WordPress Web Design

We delivered a structured WordPress build on our Elementor tier, set up for a lean team of volunteers, heritage staff, and creatives. Custom post types and taxonomies route news, restoration milestones, media coverage, events, and video into the right templates with a clear, repeatable pattern.

This project runs on our lean tier by design. It keeps build costs lean for a grant-funded, volunteer-heavy mission and still delivers structured templates that work for heritage bodies, journalists, and sponsors and allows the users to maintain and add new content.

Hopwood’s team can publish a press release, a new video, or a restoration update in minutes through simple blocks and category rules. The site stays current during funding rounds, media spikes, and event runs without a developer in the loop each time.

We added lightweight event listings for Hopwood’s UK comedy tour to build awareness and funding for the restoration. Dates and venues feed into the site, so every show, ticket link, and media mention sends traffic back to a single platform that anchors the project.

The build provides the project with a stable base for ongoing press activity, funding bids, and public events, with clear ownership within Hopwood’s team. As the restoration progresses, the site continues to support new stories, campaigns, and partnerships without structural changes.