Lyme Hall
A few miles from the Peak District national park, Lyme is the largest house in Cheshire and is Grade 1 listed. Its history can be traced as far back as 1346, when the estate was gifted to Sir Thomas Danyers by Edward III, in gratitude for his service to the Black Prince at the Battle of Crécy. Danyers had retrieved the standard of the Black Prince and was rewarded with annuity of 40 marks per year, which could be exchanged for land belonging to the Black Prince.
When Sir Thomas died, the estate passed to his daughter, Margaret in 1388. She married Piers Legh and so the dynasty of the Legh family at Lyme began, which would stretch right up until 1946.
The original house was demolished by Piers Legh VII and construction of the current house began in the mid-16th century. Initially the building was L shaped but in the 1720s Giacomo Leoni was commissioned to make modifications, resulting in the addition of the Italianate courtyard and the house began to resemble its modern appearance. The house displays several architectural styles together which makes it difficult to establish which additions were made by Leoni - Elizabethan, Baroque and Palladian styles are all present.
In the early 19th century, Thomas Legh commissioned Lewis Wyatt to restore and modernise the house, which had begun to deteriorate as the family fortunes declined. Most of Wyatt's improvements were internal, but he also added a tower structure to provide living quarters for the servants, as well as the east wing.
Formal gardens were created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
In 1946, the Legh family donated Lyme to the care of the National Trust. From 1947 the estate was managed by Stockport Corporation and its successor Stockport MBC until 1994 when the National Trust took direct control
Lyme Hall
A few miles from the Peak District national park, Lyme is the largest house in Cheshire and is Grade 1 listed. Its history can be traced as far back as 1346, when the estate was gifted to Sir Thomas Danyers by Edward III, in gratitude for his service to the Black Prince at the Battle of Crécy. Danyers had retrieved the standard of the Black Prince and was rewarded with annuity of 40 marks per year, which could be exchanged for land belonging to the Black Prince.
When Sir Thomas died, the estate passed to his daughter, Margaret in 1388. She married Piers Legh and so the dynasty of the Legh family at Lyme began, which would stretch right up until 1946.
The original house was demolished by Piers Legh VII and construction of the current house began in the mid-16th century. Initially the building was L shaped but in the 1720s Giacomo Leoni was commissioned to make modifications, resulting in the addition of the Italianate courtyard and the house began to resemble its modern appearance. The house displays several architectural styles together which makes it difficult to establish which additions were made by Leoni - Elizabethan, Baroque and Palladian styles are all present.
In the early 19th century, Thomas Legh commissioned Lewis Wyatt to restore and modernise the house, which had begun to deteriorate as the family fortunes declined. Most of Wyatt's improvements were internal, but he also added a tower structure to provide living quarters for the servants, as well as the east wing.
Formal gardens were created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
In 1946, the Legh family donated Lyme to the care of the National Trust. From 1947 the estate was managed by Stockport Corporation and its successor Stockport MBC until 1994 when the National Trust took direct control