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Showcasing a new winter exhibition at As a year of events and exhibitions that celebrate the influence and legacies of women at National Trust places around the country comes to a close, visitors to Ickworth can discover a new winter trail around the estate, featuring new artworks of some of the most important women in its history. Suffolk artist John Williams has created a series of elusive, illusion-based interpretations of eight of the important women from throughout Ickworth’s history, and these artworks will be hung and displayed around the estate’s Albana Walk from 1 December to the end of February. John, who also volunteers at Ickworth, said: “Each artwork features examples of the legacy each woman left to us, from Geraldine Anson’s wide collection of silver fishes and fans, to Theodora, 4th Marchioness of Bristol’s influence in the decision to gift Ickworth to the National Trust, ensuring its conservation and protection.” “My use of illusions fit themselves to the fact that they, the women, have not only influenced and shaped 92 | JANUARY 2019
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the landscape or the house, but rather they are the landscape and everything we see today.” John is no stranger to Ickworth; he has spent the last two years volunteering as a Resident Sculptor, taking inspiration from Ickworth’s past and present to create wood carvings from old tree stumps, giving them a new lease of life and creating a legacy for the future. During December, these sculptures will be lit up in the early dusk, giving visitors an opportunity to see them in a new way. To mark the 2018 centenary of some women first winning the right to
vote, the National Trust has taken the opportunity to celebrate the women who helped shape and create many of the places it now cares for. Ickworth is one of many Trust places around the country to take part in the programme, called Women and Power, and this year visitors have been able to discover more about Theodora, the Fourth Marchioness of Bristol. Theodora is widely credited with launching and leading on a programme of modernising and enhancing the building, including greatly improving the living conditions of servants there at the time.
Visit Ickworth this winter to discover this new exhibition and uncover those untold stories. For more information please visit nationaltrust.org.uk/Ickworth.