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| Highlights |  | Events
Themed restaurant events/meals, concerts, plays, school holiday and family activities, country life events. Event hamper service available. Please tel. Sodexho Prestige |  | Guided tours
House mini tours each day except Wed & Thur during open season at 12:15: £2.75 per person (inc. NT members). House admission extra |  | Country walks
Waymarked walks in park and woodland. Lengths vary from 1¼ml to 7ml. All terrains |
About this property
Ickworth's huge central Rotunda, flanked by two massive wings, dominates this eccentric house built by the equally eccentric 4th Earl of Bristol, who dreamed of creating an Italianate palace within an English landscape. It houses important collections of paintings (including work by Velázquez and Titian) and fine family portraits (several by Gainsborough), as well as Huguenot and ambassadorial silver and Regency furniture. The fabulous State Rooms were only used by the family on special occasions and are as pristine and awe-inspiring today as they were when orginally created. Today, the West Wing contains visitor, conference, banqueting and wedding facilities, while the East Wing is now The Ickworth Hotel. Wooded Pleasure Grounds provide a shady and delightful contrast to the formality of the Italianate Garden. Beyond there are 729 hectares (1,800 acres) of idyllic parkland, including a vineyard and dense woodland offering miles of walks. For the more adventurous, a family cycle route, 'trim trail' and challenging play area offer opportunities to burn off some more energy.
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