In May 1774 it was noticed ‘The house being divested of all its furniture & ornaments is now being taken down.’ and an undated (c.1774-75) newspaper cutting at SRO/I notes:-
TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, at the Great White Horse in Ipswich, on Monday the fifth day of July next, between the hours of four and six in the afternoon.The materials of a capital mansion house, called Sparrow’s Nest, situated in Whitton, within two miles of Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk. Also at the same time will be disposed of, 197 lime-trees, growing near the said house.
Further particulars may be had by applying to Mr.Jn. Kirby, attorney at Ipswich; where a plan is available.
The original Sparrowe’s Nest was a mansion of five gables on at least three floors and Woolnough’s grand-daughter Mrs. Adney, presented to the Ipswich Museum, a model in a glass fronted case of the former mansion with its elaborate gables and mullioned windows. There is also an original drawing of the house, the same as the model, and an early water-colour of the current mansion. These are in the possession of the current owner but the medal and Woolnough’s map have disappeared.
Only parts of the mansion could have been demolished as there were several other tenants or owners between its derelict state in 1775 and being offered for sale of the estate in 1804 ‘with a very good house called Whitton Hall, or the Sparrow’s Nest with capital barns’. Phillipson’s map shows most of the original house on the site.
An aerial view of the site and current remaining buildings of the original Sparrowe’s Nest