Birkfield House

A graceful mansion standing the test of time

Birkfield Lodge, which is the administrative hub of St Joseph’s College and which we call Birkfield House, was built in 1817 for the then astronomical sum of £30,000 (over £3 million today) by a German nobleman, Count Litsingen. When he died just seven years later he was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The property was sold to an Ipswich cheesemonger called Mr Clark, who kept it for six years, after which it was purchased by a Mr Campbell of Argyll. He lived at Birkfield until his death in 1865, when it was sold to a Mr Kenison. Some 30 years later it became the home of an Ipswich surgeon, Dr Bartlett.

In 1918 the house and lands were sold to Bunnell Henry Burton. A director of the Ipswich firm of Burton, Son & Sanders, wholesale provision merchants, based in College Street, he was also organist of St Mary-le-Tower Church, Mayor of Ipswich in 1905, and for 38 years Chairman of the Governors at Ipswich School. Knighted in 1934 for political and public services in Ipswich, Sir Bunnell was an honorary member of the Ipswich Art Club 1910-1915 but did not exhibit.

He died at Birkfield Lodge in 1943, his wife, Eveline, having died seven years earlier.

The property was then acquired by Lord Belstead and H. Paul Esq, but the following year the house was requisitioned by the Army as a soldiers’ rest home. At that time, the grounds were used for food production and were worked by Land Army girls and German prisoners of war. Following the Second World War, the estate was bought by the De La Salle Brothers in 1946.

Birkfield House remains largely unalteredalthough additions have been made over its 200 years. The large conservatory on the site of Stokes Wing (which currently accommodates the History department on the ground floor and Learning Support above) was demolished in 1951. This conservatory had a mosaic floor and the walls were said to be covered with camellias.

In the centre was a large datura plant, which bore its heavily-scented trumpet-shaped flowers throughout the year. It was rumoured that the datura was the only one of its kind in the country; a very unlikely claim! Readers will be pleased to learn that the plant, which is highly toxic, is long gone.

Twelve months ago, we were delighted to be visited by Mr George Burton, great grandson of Bunnell Burton, and his wife,Jane. Mr and Mrs Burton toured the house and saw the room in which Mr Burton’s father stayed when living at

Birkfield for a number of years. The room is now used as an office (by day) by St Jo’s Director of Admissions, Marketing and Communications.

Mr Burton kindly let us have scans of the auction brochure when his great grandfather’s estate was sold off in September 1944. We like the description of Birkfield as ‘…a well built structure of two storeys…it could…be readily adapted for use as a Private School, Home or Institution; the level Park lands surrounding the House making it particularly suitable for the first-named purpose.’ We think so too.

In all, the lot comprised ‘a Mansion, 6 Cottages and 109 acres, 2 roods, 26 poles’. A rood is a quarter of an acre and a pole (or perch or rod) a linear measure of 16-and-a-half feet.’The size of the pole (or perch or rod) was constrained by its use in defining the acre, which was a work unit of land: as much as a team of oxen could plough in a day’ - which sounds very much like one of those old ‘problems’ set by Maths teachers. How many teams of oxen would be needed to plough a field… St Joseph’s College has been undertaking a programme of renovations at Birkfield House. The exterior has been repainted, with further touching up to come, and the internal decor has been updated. The original shutters in the Birkfield Lounge have been reinstated. Further work will follow as funds allow.