Hopwood Hall: Paving stones stolen from historic manor

Hopwood Hall is built on a site dating back to 1426

Paving stones worth thousands of pounds have been stolen from a historic manor house where the poet Lord Byron once stayed.

Greater Manchester Police said a large quantity of York stone was stolen from the gardens of Hopwood Hall, Middleton.

Former Hollywood actor and producer Hopwood DePree said he was "shocked and appalled" at the theft from his ancestral home.

The Grade II-listed building is built on a site dating back to 1426.

The thieves struck on 1 December and a reward is being offered by the custodians of the hall for information leading to a conviction.

Mr DePree, who sold his LA mansion in 2017 to move from the United States to restore his dilapidated family seat, said: "I am very upset about the theft of the flagstones.

"It is shocking and appalling that someone would have such disregard for the heritage of the community."

Lord Byron, whose family lived in the Rochdale area in the 1600s, was a guest at the hall for a week in 1811.

Hopwood DePree said he was appalled by the theft

Det Con Stuart Ockwell said the theft was "not an isolated incident as several historical locations within the Middleton area have also been targeted, and enquiries into those incidents are ongoing".

"This theft is significant, not just because of the financial value of the property that has been stolen, but also due to its historic meaning to the people of Middleton and beyond," he said.

"These stones were almost certainly originally laid by great-grandparents of current Middleton residents and therefore is of particular significance."

The Hopwood family lived in the hall until the 1920s, after both sons were killed during World War One.

Mr DePree is related to them through his great-grandmother, and Hopwood was passed down that line of the family as a forename.

At one stage it was the headquarters of a cotton company and a Roman Catholic teacher training college.

York stone worth thousands of pounds has been stolen