Bankes was an adventurous man with many talents. He was an amateur architect, a careful epigrapher and he mastered the art of copying ancient inscriptions. He was very interested in Egypt and, though he was an opponent of Champollion, in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Bankes dabbled in architecture and with the assistance of his friend Charles Barry, transformed Kingston Lacy encasing the brick structure with stone. He collected numerous Spanish paintings, by Murillo and others, as well as artefacts from Ancient Egypt which are still housed at the house.