Since the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice is, for me*, the defining filmed adaptation of the novel, coming to Lyme Park to see the house and property (and the lake) was highly anticipated. But, I have to admit that, after the many-layered experience at Chatsworth House, Lyme Park was a comparative disappointment personally.
However, they did have a singular experience that the Chatsworth House lacked: a Regency Dressing Room where one could be outfitted in period clothing…for a few photos on the spot…or for the rest of your visit, if you’d like, wandering the halls as lord or lady of the manor.
I chose the former.
And. speaking of small worlds, I noticed that the National Trust employee who assisted me in the Regency Dressing Room had a distinctively American accent. As it turned out, she was originally from Massilon, OH but now calls the UK home and is raising her son there.
Do not misunderstand me. The house is magnificent and the grounds a delight to explore. And, although both houses’ gardens were designed, somehow Lyme Park seems to have achieved a more natural state than Chatsworth House, despite its many areas of “created nature”.
A few words on the grisly Lyme Coat of Arm(s) used as an architectural embellishment throughout the house: During the Hundred Year War, a French nobleman seized the standard of England’s Black Prince. This banner, St. George’s flag, acted as a rallying point amidst the chaos of the battlefield. Sir Thomas Danyers rescued the standard–and the thief’s still-attached arm–and was given the lands of Lyme Handley as thanks. His granddaughter, Margaret inherited the land, married Sir Piers Legh I and Lyme became part of Legh family history.
Since none of the series was filmed within the house, each room was its own discovery as we roamed the building.
After a few hours exploring the Lyme Park house, the gardens and the Timber Yard (the former stables now repurposed as a shopping/noshing/relieving area for visitors), we boarded the motor coach and returned to Buxton. The evening was our own to seek nourishment and pack up for our journey to Bath tomorrow morning.
We were back in Buxton by the afternoon, so I took another walkabout through the town before returning to the hotel to start packing. (I’ve incorporated any additional pictures taken today into yesterday’s photo montage of Buxton.) Finished with packing for now, hunger got the best of me and I retreated to the bar for some wine, a light supper and more work on this journal before calling it a night.
* And, as it turned out, everyone else in our group as well. At yesterday’s tea and talk, the speaker conducted an impromptu poll on which of the three P&P adaptions is our favorite. To a person, it was the 1995 version.
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Dave In Austenland 