Ickworth House — Most Scandalous - Beyond Downton Abbey: A Guide to 25 Great Houses - page 78

Following a sad and lonely childhood, the life of the 7 th Marquess was one of chronic ad-
diction — to sex, drugs and alcohol. John Hervey was sent to prison twice: once for drug
smuggling and once for drug possession. Although briefly and unsuccessfully married at
age 30, one of his friends described him as “the campiest queen I have ever known.” Ru-
mored in the press to have blown a 21 million pound fortune on drugs and high living, Her-
vey sold his remaining possessions and moved out of the East Wing at Ickworth in 1996,
after terrorizing National Trust visitors and staff with his helicopter and fast cars. He was
the last Hervey to live at Ickworth House. The 7 th

Marquess of Bristol died in 1999, and

his estate was probated at just 5,000 British pounds.

Ickworth today is a much more sedate place.

Who built it…who owns it
Ickworth Estate is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, among the possessions of the
nearby St. Edmundsbury monks. The ownership of the estate passed into the Ickworth fam-
ily in the mid-12 th century and remained so until 1432 with the death of the last direct heir.
Following a long dispute, the property was granted to Sir William Drury, whose daughter
Jane married Thomas Hervey.

Ickworth House remained in the Hervey family until 1956 when it was given to the Na-
tional Trust in lieu of estate taxes. As part of the handover agreement, a 99-year lease on
the 60-room East Wing was provided to the Marquess of Bristol. However, in 1998, the 7 th
Marquess — in response to an eviction suit stemming from his behavior on the property, as
well as for financial reasons — sold the remaining lease on the East Wing to the National
Trust.

Visitors to Ickworth can stay onsite. In 2005, the converted East Wing was opened as a
conference center, hotel and spa.

Style notes
Georgian Italianate palace; Neoclassical with a giant 100-foot high rotunda. Based on the
designs of Italian architect Mario Asprucci, the architects overseeing the construction in
the late 18 th century were Francis and Joseph Sandys.