St Mary's stands in the Ickworth estate, formerly the home of the Hervey family, Marquesses of Bristol.
A church is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, but its location is now unknown. The present building dates from the 13th Century, with additions right up to the early 20th Century. Although now rather isolated, the church was originally adjacent to the Manor House and a small village of the same name - both now vanished. The de Ickworth family line died out in 1432, after which the estate passed into the Drury family, and then by marriage to the Hervey family. The present Ickworth House was built some distance to the north in the 18th Century.
The chancel and nave date from the 13th and 14th Centuries respectively, from which survive the impressive three-light east window, and a fine Decorated Gothic window on the north wall. But the overall appearance owes much to a series of substantial rebuildings. The first was undertaken by the 3rd Earl of Bristol in 1778, adding the tower and burial vault (which is still in use by the family), and the fine three-decker pulpit. In the 1830s, the 1st Marquess of Bristol erected a family pew in the form of a substantial raised south aisle; the tower was also heightened, and given its clock. Further work was undertaken in 1910-11 by the 4th Marquess of Bristol, including a new roof; work on the east chancel wall revealed a large mediaeval wall painting of the Archangel Gabriel (which was then rather fiercely restored in its current form).
The church today comprises the nave, chancel, north porch and South aisle, and a west gallery fronting the tower. As well as the wall painting, features of interest include its 13th Century font, a fine Decorated Gothic double piscina, and roundels of Flemish painted glass, dating from the 14th to 17th Centuries (installed in the 19th century). There are many and various memorials to the Hervey family, mostly in a severe black marble (and sadly, in the limited light, rather hard to decipher).
Declared redundant in 1984, the church is now in the care of the Ickworth Church Conservation Trust, and can be visited as part of the Ickworth Estate, now in the care of the National Trust. (Opening hours are 15th March to 1st November: 10am to 5pm, 2nd November to 14th March: 11am to 3pm.)
St Mary, Ickworth Estate IP29 5QE
