Ickwell Bury to 1823

The Manor of Ickwell Bury in Northill, “late part of the possessions of the Hospital or Priory of St.John of Jerusalem now dissolved”, was granted to John Barnardiston in 1543. The estate stayed in the Barnardiston family till George sold it to John Harvey of the Inner Temple, London, for £3,250 in 1680. Included in this sale was the capital messuage or manor house called Ickwell Bury.

It has been assumed previously that the house that was burned down in 1937 had been completely rebuilt for John Harvey (1631-1692). Modern photographs suggest that this is so. Work was done in the 1680s. The mason's bill of Elisha Allen for £107, for work done in 1683 and 1684, includes six marble mantlepieces, 183 feet of window stones, “takeing up and new laying of 3 fire harths.” The stable block dates from 1683 and has a clock of that date, probably by Thomas Tompion.

Late seventeenth century detail in some of the rooms survived till the twentieth century? This consistent picture of a late seventeenth century house being added to in the nineteenth century is questioned by the tiny illustration on Gordon's map of 1736. This shows an irregular house with a prominent gabled door that is more likely to be early seventeenth century or earlier. The number of windows tally with later photographs of the east front. The drawing also suggests that the house had an irregular layout which included a mansard roof, that was subsequently remodelled. It would seem John Harvey remodelled the interior of Ickwell Bury and added the existing stable block.

By the time he made his will on 10 December 1691 he was clearly short of money. He made provision for the sale within a year of “the estate at Ickwell & the house called Ickwell Bury” to pay off debts and legacies of £4,700 to his younger children. Other estates were also included if the sale of Ickwell Bury raised insufficient money. In the event the estate was not sold and successive Harveys added to it. John, son of John Harvey (1631-1692), made ten purchases including the Rectory of Northill, so that the financial problems may have been more imagined than real.

At some point during the middle to late eighteenth century the house was remodelled with sash windows and the gabled porch removed.