How Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy’s moist shirt saved Lyme Park’s fortunes

In the medieval period, Lyme Park had been a part of a royal looking floor within the Forest of Macclesfield, Cheshire however was granted as a reward to Sir Thomas Danyers who helped save Edward III’s son throughout a battle with the French in 1346.

Ownership then handed by his descendants till 1946 when rising prices led to the handover of the property to the National Trust charity, though the positioning was managed by the native authority in Stockport.

When the Pride and Prejudice producers selected the situation, it coincided with Stockport Council handing again the park to the National Trust, which meant the drama could not movie indoors. So Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire was used for Pemberley’s inside scenes.

Mr Breckman remembers a “long process” to persuade the National Trust to allow filming at Lyme as a result of, he says, they initially “didn’t want a poxy film crew” working on-site for weeks as it might be “too much hassle”.

But customer numbers “went through the roof” after the drama, starring Jennifer Ehle and Alison Steadman, premiered on 24 September 1995.

The 70-strong forged and crew on the Lyme Park shoot stayed in a close-by lodge having a “great time”, he added.

“We travelled all over the countryside like a circus… we were a very small, lean, keen family.

“None of us understood or realised the impression it might have, particularly the [wet shirt] scene with Colin.”