Discussion Paper: Where Is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

ICKWORTH Suffolk

DISCUSSION PAPER:

WHERE IS CAPABILITY BROWN AT ICKWORTH?

Ickworth Lodge, east front, 1804, Quinton.

Commissioned by

THE NATIONAL TRUST from

DR SARAH RUTHERFORD for SR Historic Environment Ltd

03 December 2015

CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ...... 4 2 SOURCES ...... 5 3 THE FACTS ...... 6 4 INTERPRETATION OF THE FACTS ...... 11 5 CONCLUSIONS ...... 14 6 HISTORIC IMAGES AND PLANS ...... 15

FIGURES

Map A Potential Areas of Activity by Lancelot Brown 2

Figure 1 1816, Ordnance Surveyor’s Drawing annotated with possible areas of Brown influence (British Library)...... 3 Figure 2 1804, rotunda & church, Quinton...... 15 Figure 3 1804, church and valley overlooking the site of the walled garden which is masked by a conifer plantation, Quinton...... 15 Figure 4 1804, Ickworth Lodge, east front, Quinton...... 16 Figure 5 1805, Ickworth walled garden and canal from the south, Quinton...... 16 Figure 6 1805, Detail of walled garden with plantation and valley behind, Quinton...... 16 Figure 7 1783, Hodgkinson map of Suffolk, detail of Ickworth...... 17 Figure 8 1816, Ordnance Surveyor’s Drawing, detail of Ickworth Park (British Library)...... 18 Figure 9 c.1810‐20, Isaacson Estate Map (National Trust) ...... 19

1 MAP A Lancelot Brown at Ickworth Potential Areas of Activity (1950s OS 6” base).

By 1780s

5a 1786

2b 5b

1 7

3 4 By 1780s

By 1780s

KEY Pink shading = possible extent of park that could have been influenced by Brown (based on Phibbs/Gallagher report and recent site analysis) Green line = approximate park boundary by 1783 (based on first mapping of park boundary, Hodgkinson map of Suffolk) Brown ovals = schematic clumps present by 1780s (i.e. shown on Hodgkinson map of Suffolk), with sites possibly influenced by Brown. White numbered areas = Brown’s most likely features/activities (based on Phibbs/Gallagher report and recent site analysis) Blue line = course of River Linnet Red line = former main drive across park, between Horringer/ Ickworth Lodge and out to NW (1783, Hodgkinson) 1. Ickworth Lodge Garden, said to have been reduced in size by Brown 2. Albana Wood, probably E side (2a); perhaps he also suggested the (Phibbs/Gallagher). concept of final circuit layout & pleasure ground in Ickworth Lodge Wood west of the Lodge (2b). Strong contender to be by Brown. 3. Church valley, 6 London Planes (5 + stump) frame view from Albana down valley 4. House site, edge of plateau overlooking park to S. Unlikely Brown towards walled garden, possibly other planting. Strong contender to be by Brown. identified site 1760s/70s; possible in 1781 with his house designs. 5. 5a & b: Clumps framing North Vista (5c). 6. Horringer Park specimen trees and further clumps. Clump 5b The Grove (as noted by Phibbs/Gallagher) framed the C18 drive to the 7. Horringer Park drive, Horringer to Ickworth Lodge and possibly Lodge from the E entrance near Horringer church. continuing westwards across the park over the Linnett. Clump 5b may relate to views to Ice House Hill to the NW, and the Lodge to the W. North Vista (5c) can only be connected with Brown if he sited the new house.

2 5a

Figure 1 1816, Ordnance Surveyor’s Drawing annotated with possible areas of Brown influence (British Library). Numbers and views correspond with those on 1950s annotated map as Brown’s main possible areas of influence/activity. By now the 1st Marquess had begun work on Ickworth grounds The Grove (5b) seems to be positioned too far north as it should be closer to the main drive to Ickworth Lodge.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

1 INTRODUCTION

Lancelot Brown (1716‐83) was the most prolific, renowned and talented of the designers of the English Landscape Garden (gardens on a large scale which seem natural and irregular), which were at their zenith between 1750 and 1800 and came to represent the epitome of British garden design. He worked as an independent designer between 1750 and 1783 and is connected with some 250 or more sites in England and Wales including 6 or so where he is known to have advised in Suffolk and 1 one or two tentatively ascribed to him.0F0F

Brown worked at Ickworth, providing landscape advice in the middle of his career and a design for the house near the end of his life/career. The detail of his input and areas in which he worked remain tantalizingly unclear. Although records of payments made to him provide sure evidence of his connection with Ickworth, they are unhelpful in providing any idea of his design vision or schemes. However, peripheral evidence offers opportunities to identify potential areas of his activity including map evidence and the remains in the landscape itself (including trees and extant and relict features), which together with an understanding of his style and working methods can help to identify where he could have worked.

Based on evidence from site observation by S Rutherford (2015), the sources below and their interpretation, this paper identifies possible features that survive in the landscape at Ickworth that could be by Brown. It plots these on maps and offers discussion of facts and interpretation as follows.

The facts, their interpretation and conclusions include the results of discussions with Chris Gallagher, one of the De Bois park survey team in 1980, NT Curator James Rothwell who has recently been carrying out extensive research into the C18 archival material and contributed new data and analysis, and NT Regional Archaeologist Angus Wainwright.

1 Redgrave (1763‐73), Branches Park (1763‐5), Euston (1767‐71), Ickworth (1768‐73, 1781/2), Elvedon (possibly, 1769), Fornham Genevieve (1782), Heveningham (1781). See Garden History 41.2 (2013).

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

2 SOURCES

Key sources include:

2.1 WRITTEN Lancelot Brown’s Business Account Book, covering the period 1764 to his death in 1783.

Bank ledgers for the Herveys at Goslings and for Brown at Drummonds (now RBS Archive).

W Childe‐Pemberton, The Earl‐Bishop... Vol. 1 (1924).

Ed. SHA Hervey, Journals of the Hon. William Hervey, in North America and Europe, from 1755 to 1814; with order books at Montreal, 1760‐1763 (1906). [General Hervey’s Diaries edited by the 1st Marquess’s grandson]

The diary of the Duchess of Northumberland c.1770 (quoted in Phibbs/Gallagher, 1980).

Research carried out by S Rutherford as preparation for Capability Brown and his Landscape Gardens (National Trust Publishers, forthcoming, 2016).

Phibbs/Gallagher Park Tree Survey for the National Trust (1980).

L Barker, ‘A Survey of the Garden of Ickworth Lodge’ (English Heritage, 2005).

2.2 MAPS Hodgkinson map of Suffolk, 1783 (Suffolk Record Office).

Ordnance Surveyor’s Drawing, 1816 (British Library).

Isaacson Estate Map, c.1810‐20 (National Trust).

6” Ordnance Survey, all editions, 1870s‐1950s.

2.3 IMAGES Quinton watercolours of the south park, 1804‐05 (NT and private collection).

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

3 THE FACTS

3.1 FACT 1 BROWN WAS PAID TO ADVISE ON THE GROUNDS AT ICKWORTH Brown was paid a sum by the 2nd Earl of Bristol for landscape advice at Ickworth, spread into at least four payments over a five year period, 1768‐73. It was a standard sum for advice on what could have been a fairly extensive scheme. The account was recorded as settled in 1776 (no sum mentioned at 2 that time).1F No documentary evidence concerning Brown’s work survives to indicate the areas of his contribution to the landscape in this phase.

Brown recorded in his account book (p.77) that he was paid £581 in 3 fairly even sized sums between 1770 and 1773 for work for the Earl of Bristol. Several of these payments are confirmed in his Drummonds Bank account ledger and in the Herveys’ Goslings ledgers (recently inspected by James Rothwell), in which his first payment is recorded in July 1768, indicating he had already advised by this point. AND in the Goslings account is an additional payment of £201 (see James Rothwell photos) beyond the payments in Brown’s account book bringing the total paid to him for this tranche of work to £781 between 1768 and 1773. Final outstanding payment was received in 1776.

DISCUSSION This was a medium‐sized sum to be paid to Brown, indicating a detailed input from him and numerous visits. This was typical of a scheme on which he advised rather than supervised the work in detail as carried out by a foreman. After a site was surveyed and a plan agreed Brown was flexible about how it was put on the ground. In many cases he offered advice on the execution by the owner’s men carrying out the work. This probably happened at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, where £200 was charged but there are no firm details of what this sum was for. At Ickworth, similar sums were also paid over several winter seasons and indicate that this is how he worked for the 2nd Earl of Bristol. From what we know of other sites, we can surmise that the initial £150 payment in 1768 was for the usual survey and design service, with the further payments for advisory work. Brown visited to check progress, ensure that all was going well and the client was happy. It is likely that he engaged in this way at Ickworth. These sums are probably for supervisory work of the Earl of Bristol’s men, an average £150‐£200 per winter season. In this work Brown is likely to have offered advice on a cohesive design and scheme of works, possibly that could be implemented as a masterplan to guide development of the landscape over many years.

James Rothwell suggests that the sum paid to Brown might relate specifically to the Albana pleasure ground, as from his studies of the archive of this period he believes that this is the sort of work that the 2nd Earl might well have commissioned. As an envoy in Turin and ambassador in Madrid he used walks in the royal gardens to obtain private conversations with the monarch. He had the reputation as proud of his status, and to have held court at Ickworth, so may have commissioned such prestigious walks himself. He was Pitt the Elder’s closest confidante/ally – introducing him into the

2 Although the work was carried out for the 2nd Earl, after his death in 1775 the 3rd Earl would have paid the final sum in 1776.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

House of Lords. Pitt had known Brown well since the days of Stowe and Wotton Underwood in the 1740s‐50s, became a friend and one of his great patrons, and employed him at his own estate in Somerset, Burton Pynsent in the 1760s.3 Thus Pitt may well have suggested Brown to the 2nd Earl. Doubtless the 2nd Earl had other friends and relations who were making use of Brown on their own estates.

Brown began three commissions in Suffolk in the mid‐1760s, before Ickworth: Redgrave (1763‐73, where he was paid £10,000 but much of this went on Holland’s alterations to the house), Branches Park (1763‐5, where he was paid £1,500), and Euston (1767‐71 for which he was paid nearly £2,000). These are substantial sums indicating a greater input from him and his men on the ground, and considerable work on the ground. Perhaps the Ickworth commission was a natural consequence of his earlier work in the county; though, financially, Ickworth was by some way the smallest of his Suffolk commissions. 3.2 FACT 2 A PLEASURE GROUND WAS PRESENT BY THE LATE C18 (2A ON MAP A) By 1783 a pleasure ground with a circuit path lay adjacent to the south of Ickworth Lodge, the temporary family home at that time (Hodgkinson, 1783).

DISCUSSION Hodgkinson’s map shows this south of the Lodge. His map is the first map of the whole park and although at a relatively small scale it seems to be relatively accurate for the key features, including the Lodge, gateway, church, walled garden, etc. The depiction of trees and clumps, though, may not be complete or consistent.

The presence of a pleasure ground by 1781 is confirmed from the Ickworth Plantation Book (in Phibbs/Gallagher 1980, p. 19 Note 7): ‘1781 The plantation of Forest Trees or Ever‐greens between Lady Erne’s seat at the Old Pollard Oak and the Giant‐Causeway stones were planted by Col. William Hervey; the plants being 4 years old taken from the nursery near the dairy.’ The Giant’s Causeway stones were first in the Lodge garden and the ‘Old Pollard Oak’ may be the pollard in the south end of the Albana Wood. In November 1780 William Hervey noted that ‘the young oaks in the pleasure 4 ground were planted’, presumably in the east side of what was to become the Albana.1F2F

The informal style indicates that the pleasure ground was created within the previous 30 years and it

3 Pitt’s connection with Wotton and Stowe was cemented when in September 1754, he fell in love with Lady Hester Grenville, daughter of Richard Grenville of Wotton Hall, and Hester Temple, Countess Temple. Pitt knew her from her girlhood as sister to his fellow Cubs Richard Grenville (now Earl Temple) and George and James. Brown was well acquainted with the Countess, corresponded with her and undertook various personal missions such as looking for a new house for them. In the 1760s Brown worked on their newly‐acquired park at Burton Pynsent, Somerset. The friendship was well recorded in apocryphal anecdotes, which have the ring of truth. One recounts a chance meeting at Staines when they dined together. As they were about to part Pitt urged Brown ‘Go you and adorn England’, to which Brown replied ‘Go you and preserve it.’ 4 W Childe‐Pemberton, The Earl‐Bishop... Vol. 1 (1924), 270; see also General Hervey’s journal, in which the General commented on Brown’s architecture at Claremont, generally favourably. ‘1780 01 June: to Clermont where I went into the house, a very good one, 9 windows in front, a portico with 21 steps which I dislike, built by Mr. Brown.’

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015 could well have been part of Brown’s work, possibly the focus of it following renowned architect Henry Flitcroft’s improvements to the Lodge in the 1740s. As Brown is the only landscape designer known to have worked at Ickworth in this period, and the park shows no strong design lines (see 1.3.3), it is a strong contender for his hand. 3.3 FACT 3 THE PARK BY 1783 HAD FEW STRONG DESIGN LINES EXCEPT FOR THE ICKWORTH LODGE PLEASURE GROUND (LATER CALLED THE ALBANA) (FEATURE 2A ON MAP A) By 1783 the park as mapped by Hodgkinson had few strong design lines, other than the pleasure ground which had a clear circuit layout. He shows no park belts or well‐organised clumps such as were commonly used by a landscape designer in Brown’s style, nor vistas framed by trees such as the north vista aligned on the site of the Rotunda.

13B13BDISCUSSION This absence of mapped park design may be the result of Hodgkinson’s notation, but it is difficult to see the hand of a designer in the layout he shows. The main clumps are identified on the annotated map above. No other designer than Brown is associated with this period, 1760s‐80s, so we must assume that the map reflects elements of his work, even if his contribution remains unclear. 3.4 FACT 4 BY THE EARLY C19 THE PLEASURE GROUND CIRCUIT WAS BROKEN (FEATURE 2A ON MAP A) By the early C19, just as the Marquess re‐started the building programme, a complex pleasure ground lay west of the Lodge, and an incomplete circuit path extended southwards around an open paddock, occupying the site of the present circuit walk, but broken on the west side. The early C19 estate map (NT at Ickworth) and the Ordnance Surveyor’s Drawing both show this.

DISCUSSION It is surprising that the southerly circuit path was by then broken as it seems to occupy the same site as that shown complete in 1783 (Hodgkinson). 3.5 FACT 5 SURVIVING TREES INCLUDE SPECIMENS FROM THE LATE C18 The 1980 park tree survey (Phibbs/Gallagher) identified various specimens and groupings of trees as potentially dating from the Brown period (defined by them as 1767‐90).

DISCUSSION The 1980 survey also noted that by 1751 when the 1st Earl died the park was of considerable size, dotted with Elm, Oak, Field Maple, and Thorn, set with small woods and part surrounded by larger woods on high ground. The design features identified at the time are noted below but need re‐ assessment on the ground. It was noted that Brown was more likely to have worked in areas north and east of the Linnett than south and west. 3.6 FACT 6 FIVE LONDON PLANES FRAME A VIEW FROM THE ALBANA PLEASURE GROUND DOWN THE VALLEY TO THE WALLED GARDEN (FEATURE 3 ON MAP A) Five large London Planes frame the view down the church valley from the south side of the Albana circuit towards the walled garden (with one stump). The planes, measured by S Rutherford and M

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

Lamey in 2015, were of girths from 5.1m to 6.75, which is of sufficient size for them to have been planted in the mid‐late C18. They are not evident, however, in the Quinton views of 1804 and the view of the walled garden at the bottom of the valley was screened by a conifer plantation.

DISCUSSION The 6 planes are likely to be the work of Brown. Brown used London Planes sparingly as one of his signature trees in many southern sites (they were not suitable for the north) to frame a view or mark a feature such as a bridge or a turn in a drive. They seldom appear in other contemporary landscapes and certainly not in this manner. Further site survey is required to pinpoint the viewpoint from the Albana and the subject of the view.

The south section of this area, close to the church, is the position in which it has been assumed that the 1st Earl intended to build the new house, hence the development of the walled gardens, summerhouse and canal. It is surprising that no trees (apart from the pollards) apparently survive from his time. 3.7 FACT 7 BROWN DESIGNED A HOUSE IN 1781, WHICH WAS NEVER EXECUTED (FEATURE 4 ON MAP A) th 5 Brown designed a house in 1781 for the 4 Earl, which was never executed.3F In 1781 Brown’s account book records that he was paid 100 gns by the recently inherited 4th Earl, for ‘Plans & Elevations for an Intire New House, and Two Journeys to Ickworth’ (p.158). Brown visited the Earl‐ Bishop on 1 February 1782 when he brought a plan with him (General Hervey’s diary, & Childe‐ 6 st Pemberton, 281‐82).2F4F The 1 Marquess’s grandson who edited General Hervey’s diaries noted that ‘Lancelot Brown may have helped to choose the exact site and may have planned the gardens.’

This work was abortive but indicates his continued involvement at Ickworth. General Hervey’s diary for the day Brown visited recorded that the company included a party of Suffolk country‐gentlemen 7 interested in building and planting on their own domains invited to meet him.3F5F They were:  Sir Gerard Vanneck who had just built a great house at Heveningham and for whom Brown produced as one of his last commissions in 1781, two vast plans, and a fine park was laid out;  Sir John Rouse, afterwards Lord Stradbroke, who had to rebuild Henham, which had been burnt;  Mr Kent (cr. Baronet in that year) who was building at Fornham Geneve. Brown had visited twice in 1781 and supplied a ‘General Plan for the Alterations of the Place’ (Brown Account Book, p. 151). His assistant Lapidge could have implemented the design after Brown’s death in February 1783. It seems that two of the three were already consulting Brown and must have known him quite well.

5 The 3rd Earl inherited in 1775 and died in 1779. 6 Ed. SHA Hervey, Journals of the Hon. William Hervey, in North America and Europe, from 1755 to 1814; with order books at Montreal, 1760‐1763 (1906), 324 [Hervey Diaries]. ‘1782, February 1, Friday. Mr. Brown came and brought with him a plan for a house. The antiquarian SHA Hervey was the son of the Rt. Rev. Lord Arthur Charles Hervey, Bishop of Bath and Wells (1808‐94), himself a son of the 1st Marquess. 7 Hervey Diaries: 1776 August 3, Saturday. Called on Lord Exeter [Burghley]; a new head making to the peice of water, which is an excellent work of Mr. Brown's; the kitchen garden i^ mile from the house, 4 acres between 4 walls …

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

DISCUSSION 100 gns was not a great sum, equivalent to one of Brown’s standard surveys and landscape design plans e.g. for Hallingbury (1778, Acct Book p. 113). He was paid £33,000 for building Claremont for Clive of India and at Ashburnham he was paid £600 in 1777 ‘on account of the Greenhouse’, presumably like Claremont including construction costs. His connection with the proposed new house at Ickworth suggests that he identified a site for the new building at least at that time if not during his earlier involvement with landscape works. The Herveys from the 1700s always intended to build a new house, so it is not unnatural that he may have suggested sites and if he had agreement from them to a chosen site may have carried out some related park planting.

It has been suggested that the intention to build a new house could have been that of the 2nd Earl when Brown was employed for his landscaping scheme and that Brown’s scheme included worki in Horringer Park which responded to a site selected at that time (i.e. the site and orientation of the later Rotunda). Brown might also have selected that site for the 2nd Earl. Given recent research by James Rothwell (discussed further in 1.4.7 below) it seems unlikely that the 2nd Earl was contemplating a new house and so the north vista would not have been part of that work of the 1760s‐70s.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

4 INTERPRETATION OF THE FACTS

4.1 SUGGESTION BROWN’S INFLUENCE LARGELY RELATED TO HORRINGER PARK, I.E. AREAS EAST AND NORTH OF THE RIVER LINNET (RED SHADED AREA ON MAP A) DISCUSSION This suggestion was made by Phibbs/Gallagher based on the results of the 1980tree survey. It seems a reasonable one as most of the likely features identified so far are indeed in this general area, but cannot be conclusively proved. 4.2 SUGGESTION BROWN’S INFLUENCE MAY HAVE OUTLASTED HIS PAYMENT PERIOD Phibbs/Gallagher referred to the period 1767‐90 as ‘the Brown period’, noting that it while it was not proper to attribute all the work carried out in this period to him, it may be correct to ascribe even plantings that post‐date him to his influence. They identified two key questions: Was Brown landscaping for the Lodge or unbuilt new house? Or both? If for the new house where did he place the site?

DISCUSSION Did he combine the look of Horringer Park as seen from the Lodge with a new focus around the new site – probably the site of the Rotunda, making conspicuous use of a group of trees at the centre of the Park, the clump known as The Grove (1980 Survey tree survey group 242, plus specimens 244‐ 246, Feature 5b on the map above) – a group of 23 oak in varying stages of stagheaded crowns, probably dating to 1720‐70, plus three large specimens.

4.3 20B20BSUGGESTION ICKWORTH LODGE GARDEN WAS REDUCED IN SIZE BY BROWN (FEATURE 1 ON MAP A) Ickworth Lodge Garden was reduced in size by Brown (according to Phibbs/Gallagher, 1980, p. 17). English Heritage were more reticent about whether he was responsible for this reduction, noting that the remodelling of the Lodge kitchen garden into a pleasure garden occurred during the time of Brown’s involvement at Ickworth, at a time when the Lodge was also undergoing remodelling. Improvements were made to the south garden of the Lodge at that time as indicated by the Duchess 8 of Northumberland.4F6F Remnant earthworks of this garden are believed to survive in the park south of the Lodge, according to the English Heritage survey of 1999 (quoted and plan illustrated in L Barker, EH, 2001, 12‐13.) 4.4 SUGGESTION BROWN DESIGNED THE NOW LOST DRIVE BETWEEN HORRINGER AND ICKWORTH LODGE (FEATURE 7 ON MAP A) Brown possibly designed the now lost drive that led between the Horringer gateway and Ickworth Lodge and predated the present (early C19) drive to Ickworth House. The 1st Marquess’s grandson

8 The diary of the Duchess of Northumberland c.1770: ‘The Offices are at a convenient distance from the House the House is surrounded by Garden taken off the Park by a sunk fence and consists of grass dotted all over with Large Trees and a profusion of clumps of flowers’. This may post‐date the reduction of the Bridgeman garden of 1735. From Phibbs/Gallagher 1980, p. 12 n.12.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015 who edited General Hervey’s diaries noted that ‘I have heard my father say that he [Brown] designed 9 the serpentine road which formerly led up to Ickworth Lodge, now a grass track.’5F7F This would have been said in the C19, many decades, even over a century after Brown was working at Ickworth.

Angus Wainwright points out that the lost drive is traceable from the Horringer gateway to the big limes in front (i.e. east) of Ickworth Lodge. It follows a rather meandering route with some surprising angles in it. The camber of the drive works its way through a lot of field earthworks (possibly cultivation continued here during the 1st Earl’s time) but disappears by the time it reaches the limes. The area between the limes and Ickworth Lodge is very smooth – suggesting that the garden formerly stretched out in this direction.

DISCUSSION The survival of the drive is a fact, but its attribution to Brown, as with other details, it is a tenuous attribution. 4.5 SUGGESTION THE NORTH VISTA IN HORRINGER PARK IS BROWN’S (FEATURE 5C ON MAP A) In Horringer Park clumps frame a vista north‐eastwards from the Rotunda that may be by Brown (Phibbs/Gallagher report (1980). This presupposes that either a) the site of the new house was selected during Brown’s landscaping phase of the late 1760s/early 1770s and the vista laid out in anticipation of this happening, or b) when Brown supplied the design for the house he indicated the site which was later occupied by the Rotunda, and the orientation of the new building, and suggested landscaping relating to it.

DISCUSSION The viewline identified originates at the site of the rotunda and includes The Grove on its east side. If left clear to the north it extended over Bury and onto the Breckland but is obstructed by the Fornham Lodge (Briar Cottage) and Horringer Court. The report states ‘There can be no doubt that it was put in to display whatever house was to be built on the Rotunda site’.

Phibbs/Gallagher also note the related sunk walk vista east of the house with the walk sunk in order not to obscure the vista south from the Horringer Drive over Mansion Meadow. This has also been interpreted as a trench so that servants could walk from Horringer to the east wing without being seen, which is also a quite possible.

However, as the person who selected the site of the Rotunda and its orientation is unclear this must remain only a theory. 4.6 SUGGESTION FURTHER TREES AND VISTAS IN HORRINGER PARK MAY BE PART OF BROWN’S SCHEME In Horringer Park further specimens and clumps and vistas were identified as part of a putative Brown period scheme (Phibbs/Gallagher, 1980, 15‐19). DISCUSSION

9 Ed. SHA Hervey, Journals of the Hon. William Hervey, in North America and Europe, from 1755 to 1814; with order books at Montreal, 1760‐1763 (1906), 324 [Hervey Diaries].

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

The Grove (Clump 5b) was believed to frame the east drive to the Lodge which existed in the C18 and led from the entrance near Horringer church. 4.7 SUGGESTION THE PRESENT HOUSE SITE COULD HAVE BEEN SELECTED BY BROWN (FEATURE 4 ON MAP A) DISCUSSION See discussion above, it could have been selected by him either when he was carrying out landscape advice or presenting his design for the new house, but there is nothing to confirm this either way.

James Rothwell who has carried out recent extensive research in the C18 archives relating to Ickworth believes that, on balance, that the 2nd Earl was not considering building a new house. Having examined many sources relating to the 2nd Earl he has not come across anything to suggest contemplation of a new house, moreover that the 2nd Earl rather liked the old one, which had been improved by Flitcroft in the 1740s to make it more impressive. Therefore it seems unlikely that Brown’s work for the 2nd Earl was associated with the new site. It is likely that Brown’s work was confined to the pleasure ground, the valley from it to the kitchen garden/church and possibly the Horringer Drive. 4.8 SUGGESTION BROWN COULD HAVE DESIGNED THE ALBANA PLEASURE GROUND IN PART OR FULLY, INCLUDING THE DESIGN IN ICKWORTH LODGE WOOD SEEN ON THE 1816 OSD (FEATURES 2A & 2B ON MAP A) DISCUSSION See discussion above, it could have been, but there is nothing to confirm this either way. 4.9 SUGGESTION BROWN’S SCHEME MAY HAVE INCLUDED OTHER SUGGESTIONS SUCH AS FLOATING A LAKE IN THE SOUTH VALLEY. DISCUSSION Brown was a master of water design, and the valley could have been a target for such a lake.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

5 CONCLUSIONS

1. Based on the sums paid to Brown it is certain that he advised to a moderate degree, but we cannot firmly attribute any scheme or features to him.

2. By a process of analysis a number of features survive that may to varying extent justifiably be attributed to him. These are discussed in the sections above (and see Map A).

3. Brown’s landscaping work for the 2nd Earl was probably concentrated in the environs of the Lodge: work to the garden, a new pleasure ground to the west and south (later known as the Albana Pleasure Ground), and the valley leading down to the walled garden. The now lost Horringer Drive to the Lodge could have been part of his work as this was in place by 1783.

4. It is unlikely that the site for the new house was selected during Brown’s involvement for the 2nd Earl in the 1760s‐70s as the 2nd Earl seems to have been content with the Lodge, it having been improved by Flitcroft in the 1740s.

5. It is possible that Brown selected the site of the new house when he designed a house for the 4th Earl in 1781, and that although the design was rejected the site was accepted. However, there is no evidence to prove this either way. The North Vista is so closely related to the site of the Rotunda that it can only be Brown’s concept if he selected the site during his work designing a new house.

6. The significance of Brown’s work here in terms of his overall oeuvre is moderate, of regional significance. The level of payment indicates it was a relatively modest commission countrywide. Even regionally, such as in comparison with other sites he worked on in Suffolk, the sum indicates it is one of his more minor works. At the other Suffolk sites he was generally paid considerably more and his contribution is considerably clearer, largely because the body of documentary evidence for each is more specific than at Ickworth.

7. The ornamental landscape that survives can clearly be shown to be based on the vision of the 1st Marquess in the early C19 (which is unlikely to have been itself based on Brown’s vision of nearly half a century previously). The 1st Marquess’s phase probably incorporated elements of work by Brown, but superseded any of his design vision, overlaying it with a stronger design layer that has persisted to now and related largely to the siting of the new house that superseded Ickworth Lodge.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

6 HISTORIC IMAGES AND PLANS

Figure 2 1804, rotunda & church, Quinton. There is some license in the Quinton paintings, as in this one which is composed of two views. There is no sign of the London Planes in the valley.

Figure 3 1804, church and valley overlooking the site of the walled garden which is masked by a conifer plantation, Quinton. If the pond shown is Rectory Pond then the painting is composed from different original sketches from different angles. If it is a real view then the pond and ruin have gone but one of the pollards could be the big one by the path in the Albana.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

Figure 4 1804, Ickworth Lodge, east front, Quinton.

Figure 5 1805, Ickworth walled garden and canal from the south, Quinton. The valley in which the London planes now stand is obscured by a young conifer plantation.

Figure 6 1805, Detail of walled garden with plantation and valley behind, Quinton.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

Figure 7 1783, Hodgkinson map of Suffolk, detail of Ickworth. This is the first map of the park yet identified, probably surveyed about a decade after Brown’s involvement with landscaping.

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

Figure 8 1816, Ordnance Surveyor’s Drawing, detail of Ickworth Park (British Library).

Discussion Paper: Where is Capability Brown at Ickworth? S Rutherford 03 December 2015

Figure 9 c.1810‐20, Isaacson Estate Map (National Trust)