Francis Sandys

Architect of Finborough Hall and Worlingham Hall born late 18th Century.

The architect, much of whose work survives in the present Finborough Hall, was Francis Sandys, who had already achieved local fame as the designer of Worlingham Hall and as consultant to the Earl of Bristol in the planning of lckworth. Both these Suffolk buildings still stand, and lckworth, now the property of the National Trust, is open to the public. Sandys, who had an architect’s practice at Bury St. Edmunds, did his work on Finborough Hall in or about the year 1795. Later, in 1806, he moved to London, but he was evidently not successful, for nothing is known of his subsequent career.

Sandys’ work in Finborough Hall can be seen in the oldest surviving part of the haIl, the square eastern block containing the chief rooms of the house and the main staircase, surmounted by a domed skylight. The staircase, with its original wrought iron balustrade, retains something of its old dignity, and several of the adjacent rooms preserve finely decorated marble fireplaces and ornamentally plastered ceilings.

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