I’ve just had a few days in Suffolk, trying to avoid the summer storms that we’re currently enjoying. I had a grand plan of doing all the major sites but alas I barely skimmed the surface. This is the Natural Trust’s Ickworth House, just to the south east of Bury St Edmunds. Ickworth’s 18th-century parkland and gardens include some of the most stunning countryside to be found in East Anglia. The 1800 acres of parkland was in part created by “Capability” Brown. The gardens surrounding the house were created in the first half of the 19th century by the First Marquess of Bristol. Those in the formal Italian style to the south of the house feature the Gold and Silver Gardens, a Victorian Stumpery and the Temple Rose Garden. A raised terrace walk separates the south garden from the park.
Ickworth had been in the ownership of the Hervey family from the 15th century. The house, park, and a large endowment were given to the National Trust in 1956 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. The Letter of Wishes of the 4th Marquess of Bristol stated that accommodation should always be available for the head of the Hervey family (the Marquess of Bristol) at Ickworth. However, in 1998 the 7th Marquess of Bristol, partly for financial reasons, and partly in response to an eviction suit stemming from his behaviour on the property, sold the remaining lease on the East Wing to the National Trust. The Trust subsequently refused to re-sell the leasehold to the 8th Marquess of Bristol on his succeeding to the title in 1999. There is now a 27-bedroom hotel in the East Wing.
The front of Ickworth House is over 600 feet long, and the rotunda is over 100 feet high. The rotunda was based on the designs of Mario Asprucci, an Italian architect; the architects who adapted the design and oversaw construction were Francis Sandys and his brother Joseph Sandys. Begun for the eccentric 4th Earl of Bristol in 1795, the house was still unfinished when he died in 1803 and was completed by the 5th Earl of Bristol (later 1st Marquess of Bristol).
Alas not my home but at least they agreed that I could park the Roller outside the front door, provided I attached wedding ribbons to it. LOL.. I wish. Kedleston Hall is one the National Trust properties and, of course being a day I had off work, was closed to the public. It was the brainchild of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Lord Scarsdale. He inherited Kedleston in 1758, aged 32 years old, and immediately knocked down the existing house to start again. He wanted a grand house to entertain guests and show off his extensive collections. By the following year, two wings of the new house had been built and work had begun on the central block. By now, a new fashion for Neo-classical style was emerging. In December 1758, Sir Nathaniel met the architect Robert Adam and a golden partnership was forged.
When he met Sir Nathaniel Curzon, Robert Adam was 30 years old, recently returned from Italy and full of enthusiasm for the monuments of classical antiquity. Building a new mansion for Kedleston was Adam’s first major commission. He had already made designs on the parkland, replacing the formal gardens with landscaped pleasure grounds. Adam drew on his and his patron’s love of Italian architecture, a passion that earned him the nickname ‘Bob the Roman’. Adam supervised almost every detail inside and out, including much of the Hall’s interior decoration and furnishings. Fashionable Kedleston soon proved to be expensive. Money ran out before the two planned southern wings could be built. Despite this, Kedleston Hall remains one of the masterpieces of 18th-century English architecture. George Nathaniel, Lord Curzon, inherited Kedleston Hall in 1916. In the 1920s some alterations were made to the ground floor when Lord Curzon established a Smoking Room and converted a sculpture gallery into a space to house his Eastern Museum.
His greatest gift to Kedleston is the Eastern Museum, a glittering collection of gifts he received while serving as Viceroy of India and during his travels in Asia. By the 1970s, the Hall was a serious financial burden. The house, parkland and most of the contents were given to the National Trust in 1987. The Curzon family still live in the Family Wing. The National Trust continues to care for this very special place with an on-going programme of restoration and re-decoration.
It was used as a location for “The Duchess” starring Keira Knightley and costumes from the film are on display.
