Lyme Park

Lyme Park is a large estate in Cheshire, south of Disley. It sits within the Peak District National Park and is managed by the National Trust. The house is the biggest in Cheshire and is a Grade I listed building. Formal gardens surround the mansion, and a deer park stretches across the grounds. The estate has been home to the Legh family for centuries, passing from the d’Anyers to the Leghs in 1388. The house dates mostly from the late 16th century, with later changes by Giacomo Leoni in the 1720s. Leoni blended Elizabethan features with Palladian and Baroque styles, adding a courtyard and south range. Lewis Wyatt remodelled the interior in the 19th century, reshaping every room. The Lyme Caxton Missal, an early printed book by William Caxton, is displayed in the Library. The estate has also served as a filming location for productions. Inside, the Entrance Hall features giant pilasters and a screen of fluted Ionic columns. A hinged picture reveals a hidden squint into the hall. Tapestries woven at Mortlake between 1623 and 1636 hang on the walls. The courtyard has a rusticated cloister, and the south front overlooks a lake with a Baroque portico. Statues of Neptune, Venus and Pan stand on the pediment, adding grandeur to the scene.