The Palladian Rotunda in the grounds of Ickworth Estate

Influenced by the fashion for the Grand Tour of Italy, the English nobility, upon their return across the Channel, wasted no time in recreating on home soil the residences that had made the greatest impression on them. This was certainly the case with Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry, and his neoclassical Ickworth Estate, near Bury St Edmunds: so much so that he commissioned the Italian architect Antonio Asprucci, who had previously worked for the Borghese family, notably on the Casino at Villa Borghese Pinciana. The inspiration and architecture of the Rotunda, however, are predominantly Palladian in style, comprising a circular building with two side wings at the centre of a twenty-hectare park where the oak trees are centuries old and sheep graze almost everywhere. The museum houses works by Velázquez and Titian, as well as Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, another highly talented British artist of the 18th century. A spa has been set up in the estate’s stables, whilst the Marquises’ former residences now house the Ickworth Hotel, which operates independently yet remains under the artistic auspices of the National Trust, the organisation that commendably manages England’s most important historic sites and parks. In the conservatory is the tea room and restaurant, where you can order the generous selection of cakes a day in advance. Staying here means indulging in endless walks through the Walled Gardens and then across the green, peaceful pastures.