Lyme Park

Summary

A Grade I listed country house and park at Disley in Cheshire, held by the Legh family from 1388 until 1946 when it was given to the National Trust; the house dates from the latter 16th century, with major modifications by Giacomo Leoni in the 1720s that retained Elizabethan features while adding Palladian and Baroque elements, and further alterations by Lewis Wyatt in the early 19th century; set within 1,300 acres of moorland and formal gardens; used as a filming location for Pride and Prejudice (BBC, 1995), The Awakening (2011), and The Village Series 2 (BBC, 2014).

About this location

Lyme Park stands in the village of Disley, on the south-western edge of the Peak District in Cheshire, approximately ten miles south-east of Stockport. The estate was granted to Sir Thomas d’Anyers in 1346 and passed to the Legh family by marriage in 1388. The Leghs held the property for over five centuries until 1946, when the 3rd Lord Newton gave the estate to the National Trust.

The house dates from the latter part of the 16th century. Substantial modifications were made in the 1720s by the Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni, who retained certain Elizabethan features while adding new elements in a style that incorporates both Palladian and Baroque characteristics, most notably in the south range and the enclosed courtyard. The south front, a long Baroque composition with engaged columns, is Leoni’s most significant contribution. Further modifications were carried out by Lewis Wyatt in the early 19th century, particularly to the interior rooms, which include the Saloon, the Long Gallery, and the Drawing Room. The Library contains the Lyme Caxton Missal, an early printed book from the press of William Caxton.

The formal gardens were created and developed primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, adding Dutch and Italian garden elements to the estate. The surrounding park of approximately 1,300 acres extends across Lyme Handley, a medieval deer park with a surviving population of red and fallow deer.

Productions filmed at Lyme Park include: Pride and Prejudice (BBC/A&E, 1995, written by Andrew Davies, directed by Simon Langton, starring Colin Firth as Mr Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet — the exterior of Lyme Hall was used as Pemberley, Mr Darcy’s Derbyshire seat, in what became one of the most celebrated BBC costume dramas of the 1990s); The Awakening (BBC Films/StudioCanal, 2011, directed by Nick Murphy, starring Rebecca Hall and Dominic West — a period ghost story set in 1921); and The Village Series 2 (BBC One, 2014, written by Peter Moffat, a drama set in a Derbyshire village in the early 20th century).