Ickworth
History
This section of the page features an image gallery, so if you're using a screen reader you may wish to jump to the main content.
-
The Rotunda
The Rotunda
As you can imagine, the building of this magnificent structure was a complicated and lengthy process. From wing tip to wing tip it measures 180m (590ft) and is 31.4m (103ft high).
The iconic sight as you walk up the drive, past the trees is such a memorable one and indeed a deliberate one built into its...
© Rupert Truman
-
The gardens
The gardens
There are two distinct gardens: the North and South pleasure gardens, the work of the 1st Marquess (1769-1859) and the walled garden, near the Ickworth church, which was developed 100 years earlier by the 1st Earl (1665-1751).
The South pleasure garden's Italianate style was highly innovative at the tim...
© Andrew Butler
-
The park
The park
Ickworth has a rich and intriguing history behind the park and woodland.
Thomas d'Ickworth was granted the right to create a deer park on land belonging to the Abbey at Bury St Edmunds in 1253. Seven and a half centuries later the park covers 1,800 acres. A walk around its perimeter is approximately 10 ...
© Mark Nisbett
-
Hervey family
Hervey family
The Hervey family have lived at Ickworth since the mid-fifteenth century. From the man devoted to Italian art and culture who created the House as we know it, to Victor Hervey, the notorious jewel thief dubbed 'mayfair playboy number one', their family lineage is undoubtedly colourful.
© Christopher Hurst
-
The collection
The collection
Ickworth has a host of treasures to delight you. Its impressive silver collection contains some stunning items, we've a rare Doccia collection and a h...
© Anna Forrest
-
Memories
Memories
As part of our basement renovation we're telling the stories of the servants who lived and worked here in the 1930s.
Their memories provide us with funny and endearing stories whilst teaching us just how much life has changed for us now. Coming soon you can here some snippets online from some of the ser...
© Ickworth
-
Children at Ickworth
Children at Ickworth
Children fell into various categories. There were those who had entered working life at fourteen as servants and estate workers; the children of the workers and local villages who were welcomed on the estate to play or on special occasions; and of course the Hervey's own children who grew up on this grand estat...
© Sean Reid
-
The Ickworth church
The Ickworth church
Ten minutes walk from the Rotunda is St Mary's church. It dates from the middle of the 13th century, and served the parish of Ickworth and the Hervey family. Frederick, 8th Marquess of Bristol, transferred ownership to the Ickworth Church Conservation T...
© National Trust
Did you know ...
-
A move from Co. Londonderry
The Earl-Bishop indulged his fascination for oval buildings first at Downhill in County Londonder...
-
Decades of work
The Rotunda took over 47 years to complete. The Earl-Bishop never saw his masterpiece finished.
-
A tourist attraction from the start
The unfinished Rotunda attracted visitors in their droves, fascinated by its iconic design.
-
A museum and a home
The Hervey family lived in the East Wing and the Rotunda was used to showcase their treasures.
-
The basement
Lady Theodore Hervey renovated the basement in 1910 and showed considerable care for her servants...
The Rotunda as we know it
The Rotunda from the Italianate garden is a real treat to see
Ickworth was home to the Hervey family for just over five centuries, 1432 - 1956. However, The Rotunda as we know it has only been around for the last 200 years or so.
Previously the family lived in a Tudor manor house which eventually fell into decay through lack of upkeep and had to be demolished.
The building of The Rotunda began in 1795 but didn’t finish until 1841. Its design was the vision of the Earl-Bishop, who only lived to see the exterior of the Rotunda complete.
The interior was an empty shell and the curving corridors and wings were just a few feet off the ground. It was left to the Earl-Bishop’s son, the future 1st Marquess of Bristol, to make what he could of his father’s extraordinary plan and to do start work on restoring the Earl-Bishop's collection which had been confiscated by Napoleonic troops in 1798.
The Rotunda basement, now restored to its 1910 appearance, offers a real insight into what it was like to live and work in this extraordinary place.
Take time to explore the magnificent park and its gardens
© Sean Reid
A welcoming place
The Hervey family have traditionally welcomed visitors.
From lavish parties and events to simply allowing local families and the families of their servants and estate workers to use the parkland to play.
Today there's something new to see each season and for all tastes, offering a wonderful retreat whatever the weather.