File:St Mary's Church, Ickworth - 9437959606.jpg

English: Ickworth Church (more formally known as St Mary's Church, Ickworth), is a former parish church located within Ickworth Park near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England.

History The church is located within view of Ickworth House, now owned by the National Trust. It originally served the people of the Ickworth village, which no longer exists. With the growth of the Ickworth Estate, the church became mainly associated with those living and working within Ickworth House and its Park. It is also the principal burial place of the Hervey family, who owned and lived at Ickworth from the mid 15th century to 1998.

Church Fabric The church is medieval with major 19th Century alterations. The chancel is mid C13, the north nave doorway is C13 or C14. The chancel has a C15 restored south nave window. A C15 plain Octagonal limestone font. A C17 octagonal pulpit, converted around 1775 into a 3-decker with balustrading and original graining. 20 C17 and C18 marble wall and floor slabs in the chancel, many with carved achievements to members of the Hervey family. 14 C17 and C18 wall tablets in the nave to members of the Hervey family and others. A C15 red-line wall painting of the angel of the Annunciation on east wall of chancel. Roundels of painted Flemish glass dating from C14-C19.

Hervey family tombs The Herveys, who owned Ickworth for almost 500 years, are buried in the vault under the church and in the churchyard. The line of those laid to rest here begins with Thomas Hervey (d. 1467), who was the first of this family to own Ickworth. After him, almost every Earl and every Marquess of Bristol has been buried there, as were many of their daughters and wives. The 6th Marquess (d. 1985) was buried in Menton (France) for 25 years until the 8th Marquess had him reinterred in the vault of Ickworth Church in October 2010.

The Ickworth Church Conservation Trust (ICCT)

The ICCT was set up by the 8th Marquess of Bristol to safeguard the future of Ickworth Church. His half-brother the 7th Marquess bought the church from the church commissioners (after they made it redundant in the 1970s) in 1986, after which it fell into a state of disrepair. The plan is now to restore the church to its former glory.