thumb|300px|right|Ickworth House, the ground floor. 1: Library; 2: Drawing Room; 3: Dining Room; 4:Entrance and (inner) Staircase Hall; 5:Smoking Room; 6:Pompeian room; 7: Orangery and West Wing; 8: East (Family) Wing; 9: Portico; 10: Topiary Garden.

Ickworth House is a country house at Ickworth, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. It is a neoclassical building set in parkland. The house was the residence of the Marquesses of Bristol until 1998; the house was given to the National Trust in 1956, but between then and 1998 the marquesses leased the east wing.

History

The house, built between 1795 and 1829, was formerly the chief dwelling of an estate owned by the Hervey family, later Marquesses of Bristol, since 1467. The building was the creation of Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (known as the Earl-Bishop), who commissioned the Italian architect Antonio Asprucci to design him a classical villa in the Suffolk countryside. Originally it had been planned as an art gallery but the Earl's collection was seized by Napoleon. The Earl died in 1803, leaving the completion of house to his successor.

In 1956, the house, park, and a large endowment were given to the National Trust in lieu of death duties. As part of the handover agreement, a 99-year lease on the 60-room East Wing was given to the Marquess of Bristol. However, in 1998 the 7th Marquess of Bristol sold the remaining lease on the East Wing to the National Trust. He was succeeded by his half-brother Frederick William Augustus Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol (born 19 October 1979). The National Trust refused to sell the remaining lease term back to the 8th Marquess, thereby contravening the Letter of Wishes which states that the head of the family should always be offered whatever accommodation he chooses at Ickworth.

The family's once private East Wing is now run as The Ickworth Hotel on a lease from the National Trust. Apartments, also leased from the Trust, are located in the Dower House in the grounds.

The West Wing at Ickworth House went uncompleted until 2006, when a joint partnership between the National Trust and Sodexo Prestige led to its renovation and opening as a centre for conferences and events. The first wedding in the property's history took place in 2006.

Architecture

thumb|right|300px|The entrance facade and ionic portico (9 on plan).

thumb|right|300px|The West Wing; its interior remained unfinished until 2006thumb|The renovation of the Rotunda, which started in 2019|alt=|300x300px

As one of England's more unusual houses, Ickworth has been unflatteringly described as resembling "a huge bulk, newly arrived from another planet" and as "an overgrown folly". It is now being architecturally reassessed and recognised as the only building in England comparable with the monumental works of Boullée and Ledoux.

Contents

The house has paintings by Velázquez, and Titian, as well as a series of 18th-century family portraits by artists such as Gainsborough, Reynolds, Vigee-Lebrun, Batoni, Angelica Kauffman, Ramsay, van Loo, and Hogarth. In addition, it has a collection of fine Georgian silver. The house also contains very good examples of Regency furniture, porcelain and 16th century maiolica. As well, Geraldine Hervey, Marchioness of Bristol used to collect elaborately decorated fans, and silver fishes.

Ickworth Church

Most members of the Hervey family, from Thomas Hervey (d. 1467) up to the 7th Marquess of Bristol (d. 1999), have been buried at Ickworth Church, which is located in the Park, a short walk from the house. The church is Norman with some later additions, and possesses a 15th-century wall painting of the Angel of the Annunciation, a 15th-century font, and roundels of Flemish glass from as early as 14th century, as well as numerous marble achievements to different members of the Hervey family over the centuries. It remains in the hands of the Hervey family and has recently undergone repairs to make it safe with the help of a grant from English Heritage.

The Park

Ickworth Park covers an area of over . The park contains "some of the finest ancient trees in the area." The Tea Party Oak, which is at least 800 years old, is located south of Ickworth Lodge and has a diameter of over .

Notes

References

  • Ickworth House, Park & Garden information at the National Trust
  • Ickworth House entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses
  • Flickr images of Ickworth
  • List of paintings on view

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