Lyme (National Trust)
Admission Excluded
1 Days from just
£35.00
Nestling on the edge of the Peak District, Lyme is a 1400 acre estate with a medieval herd of red deer and stunning views.
The story of Lyme begins during the Hundred Years War after Thomas Danyers was rewarded land for saving the life of the heir to throne, the Black Prince, and rescuing the Royal Standard. This was granted to his grand-daughter and her husband, Piers Legh I in 1398. The house they built was a residence for the Legh family for nearly 550 years before being left to the National Trust in 1946.
Initially a secondary residence, Sir Piers Legh VII made Lyme his primary home in the reign of Elizabeth I and it is his initial changes that form the core of the house. The most famous renovations took place in the 1720-30s. Giacomo Leoni's Georgian courtyard and iconic Italian Renaissance south front became famous as the exterior of Pemberley, Mr Darcy's home in BBC's Pride & Prejudice.
The social changes and rising bills following the First World War, along with the nationalisation of mineral rights in 1939, spelled the end of the line for Lyme as a residential property as it was handed over to the National Trust immediately after the Second World War.
The house is just one must-see element of Lyme. The 1400 acre estate contains stunning views, gardens and a medieval herd of red deer. The reflecting lake is also the scene of one of the more famous TV drama moments of the 90s - Colin Firth emerging from the lake as Mr Darcy to meet Elizabeth Bennett in the BBC's adaptation of 'Pride and Prejuduce'.