The Bridge-Builder: Ickworth’s Irish Connection

A Bishop who had stones thrown at him, a musician who slept with his harp, a temple perched on the edge of a cliff, the threat of imprisonment, and a 50ft stone monument set against a backdrop of revolution.

Frederick Augustus Hervey, before inheriting his Earldom and Ickworth, was the Bishop of Cloyne and then the Bishop of Derry in Ireland. He was incredibly fond of the landscape and the community that he found himself in, and he remembered today in an unusually positive light. A man of the enlightenment, Frederick was a freethinker, unbridled by religious dedication or political allegiance. He pushed for the increased freedom of Irish catholic communities and found himself in hot water with the English establishment as a result.

Becoming known as the Earl-Bishop, Frederick developed and nurtured his love for building and collecting whilst in Ireland. Many of the collection items you see at Ickworth today, were once located in the Frederick’s beloved Downhill House and have travelled across the Irish sea to be here.

This exhibition is based on brand new research conducted by National Trust's Ickworth Research Team and with the support of our colleagues at National Trust Downhill, County Londonderry, and the Hervey Heritage Society.