Lyme Park

Lyme Park was begun in the Tudor period but the present house was transformed by the architect Leoni into an ornate Italian palace in the 1720s. Within the house traces of the Elizabethan core remain, providing a contrast with Leoni's work.

The showpiece staterooms are festooned with tapestries, a fine collectron of English clocks, and carvings by Grinling Gibbons. Yet the interior is a mix of styles. The Elizabethan long gallery has retained much of its original character, and the royal coat of arms stands over the fireplace in the drawing room. Some fine period furnishings are scattered throughout, though little remains to commemorate the Legh family, who owned the house from the 14th century to 1946. In the library are 3 ancient Greek tombstones brought here by archaeologist Thomas Legh in the 19th century.

Around the house are 17 acres of enjoyable Victorian gardens, including a sunken parterre, rose garden, ravine garden, and a conservatory designed by James Wyatt. The estate surrounding the house stretches to an enormous 1400 acres, with a deer park that existed in the medieval period, moorland, and park containing a hunting tower built in the 18th century.

Lyme Park was featured in the BBC production of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.