WIMPOLE ESTATE, Royston, Cambridgeshire. UK

I first visited Wimpole Estate while accompanying my son's class on a school trip several years ago, as we walked through some of the grounds I remember looking over at the hall and promising myself I would return to this magnificent place, on Saturday, I did just that!

Wimpole Estate is huge and it's impossible to expect to see everything on one visit. The property was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1976 by the last owner, Elsie Bambridge. Therefore, like most of the NT properties, the hall opens at around 1pm making it impossible for me to visit during the week and still collect my children from school. The park and gardens open earlier which means I will be able to return to them with ease, so I chose to visit the house on Saturday.



I could easily spend a month at Wimpole and still find little corners of interest, architectural delights, unusual plants. There is also a farm so animals are also a subject here. The stables are no longer used for horses though, they contain shops now and this is where we sat to drink our last coffee of the day before leaving. I managed to make the sketch below while we drank and then coloured it from a photographic reference on my return home.

Sadly, I do not have any sketches from inside the hall to share with you which has made me re-think my National Trust sketching kit. I currently use an A4 Venezia sketchbook for all my NT properties, stately homes and churches. It is a beautiful book and although I am very happy with it's performance it is more than a tad clumsy to carry around these wonderful houses. No seating means standing to sketch and this is impossible with the A4 Venezia which results in me leaving without any sketches from the inside. Occasionally a steward has allowed me use of their chair and on one occasion I managed to stand and sketch on the right hand side of my large book but it is a problem and one I realised I would have to resolve this weekend after wanting desperately to record some of the rooms and realising I would have to leave with none of them.

I don't want to change books, I love the Venezia, so as a resolve I have decided to take an A6 wire-o sketchbook with me on future NT visits. While outside I shall work in my A4 and while inside I shall work in my A6, directly with pen which will help in my aim to cut the pencil guide out. I will then cut out the small sketches and mount them into my large book so everything is still together, which is important to me for a reason that is beyond me!

ICKWORTH HOUSE, Suffolk. UK

"I have now got to my centre of rest...Sweet Ickworth"
- John, 1st Earl of Bristol.

Even as you approach Ickworth house it is easy to understand the Earl's comment and obvious passion for the land laid out by Capability Brown. The 1st Earl of Ickworth adapted a modest farmhouse at Ickworth which was known as Ickworth Lodge and remained the family home until 1829.

The 4th Earl-Bishop had very different ideas and, inspired by the monuments of Rome, he began to build what is now known as Ickworth House. The unique central rotunda and curvy wings reveal Frederick's eccentric personality and would provide, not only a family home within the rotunda, but the wings would become a showcase for his treasures collected on his Continental trips of 30 years. The foundations for today's Ickworth were laid in 1795 and the rotunda was virtually finished when the Earl -Bishop passed away in 1803, sadly he would never see his dream complete.

"The house...The house...The house..."
- Frederick, 4th Earl of Bristol, written on his sick bed in Naples in 1796.


It was the Earl-Bishop's Son, 1st Marquess of Bristol who completed the house with the help of architect John Field, adapting his Father's plans to suit his family requirements. The last major alterations were made to the house in 1909-1911 when the 4th Marquess commissioned A.C. Bloomfield to remodel the entrance hall and staircase. The property passed to the National Trust in 1956.



Ickworth had a wonderful feel about it, children played, families laughed and had spread their picnics across the lawn in front of the house. Unrestricting, inviting and decadent. Rich yet homely and bulging with character and interest. I found myself repeating the words 'stunning' and 'beautiful' over and over again, room to room, treasure to treasure.

The Pompeian room was completed in 1879 when the 3rd Marquess employed Penrose & Grace to decorate it. The scheme is based on Roman wall-paintings uncovered in 1777 at the Villa Negroni on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. These had a special connection with the family because the Earl-Bishop had purchased some of the original frescoes while in Italy at the time of their discovery. It's a remarkable room within a remarkable house.

Joan and I stayed at the house, managing to leave just enough time for a coffee in the orangery before closing. The grounds remained open so we ventured towards the church we had seen on the brochure map.

St Mary's church sits just behind Ickworth house, well hidden by one of the large trees that decorate the land. Unfortunately it is now redeemed 'unsafe', the one feature of Ickworth now inaccessible to the public. We took the opportunity to rest a while and sat upon the grass opposite to create what would be our final sketch at Ickworth House.



We made our way back to the car through the tree-lined pathway, squirrels busying around us as Ickworth disappeared behind the foliage. Our drive back was full of conversation and the roads were surprisingly clear for a bank holiday Sunday.

How lucky we are to have seen such wonderful places in the company of such treasured friendship.