Ickworth House, Suffolk, was built between 1795-1829, by Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry. The Irish architect Francis Sandys built the house after designs by the Italian architect Mario Asprucci. Originally the new mansion had been planned as a magnificent setting for the Earl-Bishop’s art collection, but sadly his collection was confiscated by Napoleonic troops in 1798.
The unusual design of the house was much discussed by the Earl-Bishop’s contemporaries, with his own wife quipping that it was a ‘stupendous monument of folly’. The building is dominated by the huge central Rotunda which is flanked by segmental single-storey narrow wings linking to the large pavilions.
Building stopped when the Earl-Bishop died in 1803 and it was almost twenty years before his son, Frederick, the 5th Earl (later the 1st Marquess) completed the task. He made the east wing the family home with the central rotunda used as a gallery and space for entertaining. The west wing was simply built for symmetry and remained an empty shell until 2003.
Ickworth continued in the family until the twentieth century. As a young man, the 6th Marquess was known as 'Mayfair playboy No.1'. He joined a gang of ‘gentleman’ jewel thieves, and was convicted in 1939 on two counts of robbery.
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 east wing was given to the Marquess.
His son, the 7th Marquess, was rumoured in the press to have blown £21 million (some say £35 million), the 7th Marquess sold much of his remaining family possessions and moved out of Ickworth in 1996. In 1998 he sold the remaining lease to the National Trust and was the last Hervey to live at Ickworth.
In 1999 he was succeeded by his half-brother Frederick as 8th Marquess who wanted to buy back the lease from the Trust, but this was refused. This apparently contravened the Letter of Wishes which states that the head of the family should always be offered whatever accommodation he chooses at Ickworth. The east wing is now run as a hotel.
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