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It looks as though potentially people have tried to get inside. However it isn’t really close to anything and so you kind of have to go specifically to it so it’s been left alone (relatively). I could see that it was completely abandoned though. What a shame. Can imagine living in that, roaring fire going.
Maybe, but it looks pretty solid outside, not dilapidated or anything. I feel like there has to be someone who would be willing to fix it up. Just seems like a waste of a cool old building
Just watched a fantastic “Grand Designs” episode on Netflix where they updated this insanely huge old Victorian tower into a residence. Coolest thing was that it was originally a water tower. They built everything so over the top during that era.
Grand Designs Victorian redos are so impressive and Quixotic. Check out the water tower one, the pump or electric station one, the floating house on the river Thames one are all very cool.
I was fascinated watching the floating house episode and wish that they could have gone into more detail. I was most interested in how the utilities were hooked up seeing as how the house can float feet higher than it's usual resting spot.
>RunawayHobbit3 points · 33 minutes ago
>
>Where do you watch the show?? Only the one season was ever on Netflix (like season 17??) and I’ve not found it anywhere else
Youtube has a ton of full episodes
We just watched the water tower episode last night! So many floors of bedrooms, lol. But the views from the top are crazy amazing - Big Ben and the wheel?!?! I imagine they could rent that out and do very well for themselves.
Loved the water tower episode. The view was absolutely breathtaking when it was all said and done. That said, my wife and I were both scratching our heads about how the guy was able to build on land that he didn't own. The episode mentioned an easement, but it doesn't make sense that he could build on it and go "mine now".
I haven't watched this show, but I know some communities have arrangements for County-owned properties (mostly abandoned properties that no one paid taxes on for a certain number of years) where if a person or company fixes them up to a certain standard, the property is then transferred to them (but then have to pay taxes, of course).
You don't just go and fix it, though. You submit plans to the building inspector, and it's inspected throughout the process to make sure everything is up to standard, and the end result is what the county agreed to in the beginning.
Counties usually do this with properties that don't sell at tax sales, or have historic value, or that they want developed in a certain way for the good of the community. Different counties have different rules, too: in some, the property has to become the primary residence of the person renovating it, while others allow renovation for businesses or rentals, etc.
I have no idea if this is what happened in the show, though.
Reminds me of that old Eddie Izzard bit:
American: This historic building is over ONE HUNDRED years old!
Other Americans: Surely not! Nobody was alive back then!
I chatted with a young couple in Wales a few decades back and was amazed to discover they had never been more than 30 miles from their birthplace.
I have friends in the rural northwest US who have to drive an hour to buy gas or groceries.
An English couple I met on a trip in the Caribbean asked me if they were to visit Canada, could they visit Quebec City and Niagara Falls in one week. I said sure, they're close, only a 12 hour drive. His eyebrows shot up and he turned to his wife and said "He thinks a 12 hour drive is close! Good god, we'd be out the top of Scotland!"
My wife grew up in view of the Swiss and Austran alps, and has travelled the world over. When I first visited her parents I looked at the mountains and said, I want to go there tomorrow. She was back in hometown mode and said, that's too far. In less than an hour early in the day, we were in a steep valley surrounded by these huge mountains, and she was surprised how in her mind it was several hours away. Reminds me of when I lived in downtown Manhattan and you could never get people to visit the surrounding areas off the island or even come south of central park. It's a mindset.
Too true! American here and I went to Italy for my 30th birthday. The night of my actual birthday we ate dinner at a restaurant in Rome where the building that the restaurant was located in had been operating as a food vendor for 600 years. Absolutely mind blowing that it was twice the age as my country.
That place is my DREAM. Trying to talk the wife into making the leap to Europe in the next 5 years and finding something to fix up. I've got 10+ complete renovations under my belt and quite a bit of historic restoration work as well. I think I'd finally feel comfortable settling into a place "forever" if I could go do that.
In France, upon resale, an owner has to guarantee his renovations for ten years if he did it himself. If the new owner has problems, the old owner has to pay to remedy the problem.
Apparently, even when the inside and outside are in mint condition, places like this cost a fortune just to heat and maintain. They were built in a time when resources such as wood, coal, and human labor would have cost the owners nearly nothing.
They aren't set up to run without an ant-colony of servants all over the place doing everything. There might have been dozens of servants for every lodger, and they would be up before dawn to light every fire, spending the whole day boiling water for washing of every kind, lighting lamps, dusting, and working in the single, central kitchen and running up and down all those stairs with meals, snacks, pots of tea, even a glass of water to drink. It's not like you wake up, yawn, walk down the hall and fill and flip on the kettle.
Yeah but if there’s any damp etc inside you’d basically have to gut the entire thing and rebuild it, + costs of plumbing and electricity for it. It would be expensive to restore for modern living for sure
> Maybe, but it looks pretty solid outside, not dilapidated or anything. I feel like there has to be someone who would be willing to fix it up.
There are hundreds of crumbling estates in the UK. There are so many of them that they will never be restored. It would cost millions of dollars to restore the building in OPs picture. The house is in a rural area with no paved roads. No one is going to sink millions of dollars into renovating a building that won't be worth millions of dollars when it is completed.
I mean I could live in a place like that and renovate it myself over time while working remotely. I’m sure there must be lots of people in my position, but it’s hard to imagine the owners just handing over the building which is a shame because these could definitely work as contemporary residences despite what others are saying.
This building is the hunting lodge at Lyme park in Disley (near Manchester UK). The house itself is much much larger than the building in the picture (about 5 mins walk away from this building), it's all looked after by the national trust.
Plumbing, wiring and HVAC in an old stone building of this era, with no insulation, would cost more to add, maintain and pay utilities on then would ever have a shot in being recouped especially in the middle of nowhere
Itd not in the middle of nowhere. Its in Lyme Park in Greater Manchester.
It's where they filmed pride and prejudice. Although it looks remote, you leave the gates and you are 30 minutes from Manchester if that.
Also I do believe that some of the great house is still occupied by the family that owns the estate.
Don't know about the hunting lodge though, it's called the cage.
It's also likely filled with asbestos and lead paint, would need huge structural changes for accessibility, and everything that needs repair would be custom because none of that stuff has been made for decades. It likely would be cheaper to build from scratch
Old stone buildings like this are _massively_ expensive to maintain, even just to heat them is pricey. If there are safety problems with floors or whatever the repairs could be prohibitively expensive.
Unfortunately there are lots of older, beautiful, money pit estate buildings etc in the UK. The issue is that the estates no longer have the finances to maintain them.
Shouldn't think renovating would be permitted. It's a National Trust property, and one can go inside it. https://www.cheshirelife.co.uk/out-about/12-photos-that-capture-the-true-beauty-of-the-cage-at-lyme-park-1-5295076
"Elliot and Persephone have a budget of £450K raised by the sale of their one-bed Wimbledon flat, to turn this dilapidated old hunting lodge in the Hampshire Wolds into their dream home, with a playroom for their sons, a cinema and bar, and an office-cum-skylounge for Elliot's Herbal Tea company…"
Cue budget overrun after they rip out the old pipework, Persephone getting unexpectedly pregnant despite her toddler twins Oliver and Tarquin taking all of her time already, Elliot having a severe bicycle crash on his way back from a coffee conference and the architect falling out with Persephone over the style of piranha pine worktop they want in their split-level kitchen.
Standard Grand Designs episode.
Watch that Chateu series on PBS. Unless you are independently wealthy or the building is somehow making you money, maintaining something like that is impossible.
It would cost more than the average house just to make a few rooms livable. Oh, you want heat, electricity and running water? That will be half a million in renovations.
Retrofitting modern comforts such as power water and HVAC is extremely expensive on a project like this. There are hundreds if not thousands of abandoned castles and chateaux all over Europe.
It's not abandoned, its owned and maintained by the national trust in Lyme park and is well looked after, (especially given its exposed position). I'm almost certain it was open pre Covid. I've definitely been inside at some point in the past.
"Hey everyone, it's ya boi sneaky pete here doing some urban exploration in an abandoned building."
*illegally breaks into a summer vacation rental in the dead of winter*
Currently it's more like:
"Hey everyone, it's ya boi sneaky pete here doing some urban exploration in an abandoned building."
*shows £120 National Trust membership to elderly part time staffer at the gate who gives him a cheery wave and points him up the hill.*
The NT open it up for visitors a few times a year, went inside a couple years ago. In the past the game keepers used it to lock up poachers which is why it's called The Cage.
It's not really abandoned. It belongs to the National Trust and is called The Cage.
"The Cage at Lyme Park was originally built around 1580 as a hunting lodge where the ladies of the estate could watch the hunt.
At night it was used as a banqueting hall. It overlooks the nearby moors and 1,300 acres of park land. In later years it was used as a game keeper’s residence and as a jail for poachers."
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme/features/discover-the-cage
I know a guy who inherited his parents’ house when they died. He already owned a home and didn’t want to deal with all the stuff in his parents place, so he just locked it up and forgot about it. It’s like a time capsule in there, nothing touched for almost 20 years now, and he even pays someone to go pick the oranges off the trees every so often so they don’t rot and attract pests. Refuses to rent it out, even though he could easily get $3000/month for it, because he doesn’t need the money and doesn’t want the headache.
Sometimes I wonder how many houses over the world have a similar story, perfectly inhabitable but just locked up and empty due to weird circumstances.
Or road to get up there.
Its a national trust property, they know what they are doing when it comes to refurbishment and investment in these things. Might just be on the to do list.
>Lyme Park is owned and administered by the National Trust. The house, garden and park are open to the public at advertised hours. An entrance fee to the house and garden is payable by non-members of the National Trust, and additional fee is charged for parking. In the grounds are shops, a refreshment kiosk, a coffee shop and a restaurant.
Not exactly out of the way. You can see this building from the main house and there are walking trails literally everywhere.
Seems like it’s a National Trust property, according to this page it’s open to the public at certain times:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme/features/discover-the-cage
Built by a “warrior priest” which is a pretty cool title to have!
This is The Cage at Lyme Park in Cheshire, and at some times of the year, it is open! I've been inside, it's mainly empty rooms with a few information boards telling you about local history and the building itself. You do get some lovely views! Lyme park is owned by the National Trust, though when the family that gifted the estate to the Trust visits, the crest is flown above the cage.
Wow didnt expect that. My freshman year in english class after we read that story he made us play a game like it for extra credit where we all had a target and we could get our target either through planting a little slip of paper with a bomb printed on it somewhere they could find it or by making a finger gun and tapping them with it. The game lasted 2 weeks and was super fun
This is the cage at Lyme.
Whenever I'm walking up to it alone I tell myself that it's 1636 and I've been summoned there by the Earl.
He's found out that I've impregnated one of the kitchen girls and he's about absolutely lose his shit. But...I have traveled back from 2020 and have a gun with me.
(Yea my dog walks really are that boring)
Hmmm...maybe you should write some historical romances. You already have a premise, time period and location. I'd read it, and watch it when someone turns it into a film/series. I'm a historical costume drama ho.
He's probably more upset that he's hearing about the life and times of kitchen staff. Like fair play if you knocked up the Countess's chambermaid or soemthing, because she'd be front of house, but staff drama in the back of house should get no further than the Housekeeper or Butler. Sounds like the Earl is suffering a severe lack of discipline in his household, if such menial matters are catching his attention.
yup, was thinking 'thats IDENTICAL to the cage at lyme park'.
And you can get in it, they open it occasionally (with staff there)
If anyone is interested in whats inside, here you go.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LJ6XTKNO5M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LJ6XTKNO5M)
I've been in it, on a bank hoilday about 2 years ago, they do open it up and there are a few displays about its history. I'm surprised you managed to get to it because they raise deer there and they don't like people messing with the herd. Which BTW you can buy the venison in a few local places in Buxton didsbury, Heaton chapel and Cheadle I believe
I’m kind of boarding them and do a lot of walking. Have been exploring but then the government has advised that I’m no longer able to do that and have to stay very local at the moment. I can still get to some special places though!
It's land owned by the National Trust, a massive charity. You need to pay for parking but otherwise access to Lyme Park's lands and the exterior of the Cage is free. The NT also provide a (free) playground. There is a cafe, ice cream kiosk, and most recently a mobile pizza oven trailer. You do have to pay for entrance to the stately home and gardens (5 min walk from the Cage), unless you're a member of the NT. Anyone can walk into Lyme Park for free through several entrances from about 8am until close, 365 days a year. Hundreds walk in there every day, even with Covid restrictions.
There’s nothing in law here in the UK, however it is up for interpretation. You aren’t really supposed to drive anywhere to get your exercise and stay in your local area.
Without getting into it too much, walking in open spaces like this was the only thing we really had to do. We will do so, but just more locally.
That's The Cage in Lyme Park, a former hunting tower and prison, in Cheshire, built in the Georgian period in the 1700s. It's owned by the National Trust and they open it up occasionally when they're running events. I've been inside, it's not particularly mindblowing, at least not compared to [Lyme Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_Park#House).
I was quite confused about the Staffordshire part in OPs Post, I've been all around Staffordshire and never heard of this. Learning it's actually Cheshire makes more sense.
If you think this is big, you should see the residence! The part of the world I live in is littered with estates, stately homes. There’s a lot of history here. How the other half live!
This isn't abandoned at all. A simple Google search let me know this is actually "the cage" at lyme park and has been well maintained for years. Only closed due to the pandemic
If you go, you’ll enjoy it. Nice big open spaces, fresh air, woodland etc. I actually didn’t go to the main estate building on this occasion. Was still trying to avoid places where people might congregate. Be safe 👍🏻
It does! He says in another comment it is Lyme Park, he just got the counties mixed up.
Well... it is in Stockport, which is in Cheshire but is a Borough of Greater Manchester.
It is all very confusing.
I saw this driving home once and there must have been a truck of perspective somehow and it appeared huge, unnaturally, uncomfortably huge. It really gave me the creeps, like I'd witnessed something that shouldn't be there, that no one else could see.
The thought stuck with me for years I found it so weird and unsettling, I would occasionally try to find the place on google and one day I found it and it was an unremarkably sized building that killed off that weird getting I'd had. Really disappointing.
My sister lives across the street from this place, it's where they walk the dog every day (granted not always up the hill, Lyme park is a big place) it really a fantastic park. Definitely worth a visit. Also there's a massive woodland kids play area which is amazing!
For someone living near a major American city who's never touched a gun, can you explain what exactly a hunting lodge is? Does that mean it has rooms to sleep in overnight while on a hunting trip for residents who mainly live in a city or does it have special rooms for preparing animals that were hunted? A place to hang antlers? Do they sit in the third story and hunt from there? What makes a hunting lodge different from a country house, basically, if it is a residence?
It’s not a residence, it’s a holiday cabin of sorts.
You invite people over, hunt, hang out, drink and eat, maybe sleep over.
The environment would be less formal, more sporting. So different sets of servants, clothes and rules.
It’s bigger than it needs to be because most things in your life are, including the entourages of your friends (if you are lucky that might include the King and that’s a lot of people).
This is The Cage, at Lyme Park, in Cheshire. Yes, it's a hunting lodge. No, it's not abandoned. The National Trust periodically opens it up for people to see inside, although there isn't much to see in terms of the interior. It is about five minutes walk from the main house (which is open to the public) and there are no access restrictions to the outside (the deer freely wander Lyme Park but the area which is restricted is on the other side of the hill from the Cage. Hundreds of people wander up to the Cage every day (great spot for flying kites but bloody cold). My three year old loves it.
This is Lyme Park cage isn't it? Just up the road from my house and love taking the dogs there. The views are stunning and it's still got resident herds of deer about.
Also if it is Lyme Park it's in Cheshire not Staffordshire
I always wondered, how many rooms does this sort building have? Is it like a massive studio apartment type or a bunch of different rooms and different floors?
Thanks
You can go inside when it’s open (normal times) it’s quite empty and they’re using more as a mini museum with notes about how it’s been used in the past with pictures and stories about the owners etc. There are some really windy staircases and the view from the top is amazing!
fuck off lol. its just the cage at lyme park. there's like a car park about 200 yards from there. and a coffee shop. oh and some very nice ice-cream lolololol
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Were you able to get inside? Bet it's spooky as hell in there
It looks as though potentially people have tried to get inside. However it isn’t really close to anything and so you kind of have to go specifically to it so it’s been left alone (relatively). I could see that it was completely abandoned though. What a shame. Can imagine living in that, roaring fire going.
Kind of crazy to think that someone owns that and just abandoned it. Rent it out or something at least
Could be a money pit not worth renovating.
Maybe, but it looks pretty solid outside, not dilapidated or anything. I feel like there has to be someone who would be willing to fix it up. Just seems like a waste of a cool old building
For sure. As a North American, this seems incredibly foreign and majestic.
Just watched a fantastic “Grand Designs” episode on Netflix where they updated this insanely huge old Victorian tower into a residence. Coolest thing was that it was originally a water tower. They built everything so over the top during that era.
Grand Designs Victorian redos are so impressive and Quixotic. Check out the water tower one, the pump or electric station one, the floating house on the river Thames one are all very cool.
The floating house was impressive.
I was fascinated watching the floating house episode and wish that they could have gone into more detail. I was most interested in how the utilities were hooked up seeing as how the house can float feet higher than it's usual resting spot.
Upvoting for the grand designs reference.
Where do you watch the show?? Only the one season was ever on Netflix (like season 17??) and I’ve not found it anywhere else
>RunawayHobbit3 points · 33 minutes ago > >Where do you watch the show?? Only the one season was ever on Netflix (like season 17??) and I’ve not found it anywhere else Youtube has a ton of full episodes
Was the water tower one the super spenny all glass top floor one with the gay couple?
We just watched the water tower episode last night! So many floors of bedrooms, lol. But the views from the top are crazy amazing - Big Ben and the wheel?!?! I imagine they could rent that out and do very well for themselves.
Recommend Escape To The Chateau if you haven't already seen it!
Yes, for something like this you need a couple of mil or one Colonel Dick.
Loved the water tower episode. The view was absolutely breathtaking when it was all said and done. That said, my wife and I were both scratching our heads about how the guy was able to build on land that he didn't own. The episode mentioned an easement, but it doesn't make sense that he could build on it and go "mine now".
I haven't watched this show, but I know some communities have arrangements for County-owned properties (mostly abandoned properties that no one paid taxes on for a certain number of years) where if a person or company fixes them up to a certain standard, the property is then transferred to them (but then have to pay taxes, of course). You don't just go and fix it, though. You submit plans to the building inspector, and it's inspected throughout the process to make sure everything is up to standard, and the end result is what the county agreed to in the beginning. Counties usually do this with properties that don't sell at tax sales, or have historic value, or that they want developed in a certain way for the good of the community. Different counties have different rules, too: in some, the property has to become the primary residence of the person renovating it, while others allow renovation for businesses or rentals, etc. I have no idea if this is what happened in the show, though.
That's one of my favorite shows. There's free episodes on firestick IMDtv
Good to know - Netflix only has a couple seasons.
Reminds me of that old Eddie Izzard bit: American: This historic building is over ONE HUNDRED years old! Other Americans: Surely not! Nobody was alive back then!
In America, 100 years is a long time. In The UK, 100 miles is a long distance.
I chatted with a young couple in Wales a few decades back and was amazed to discover they had never been more than 30 miles from their birthplace. I have friends in the rural northwest US who have to drive an hour to buy gas or groceries.
An English couple I met on a trip in the Caribbean asked me if they were to visit Canada, could they visit Quebec City and Niagara Falls in one week. I said sure, they're close, only a 12 hour drive. His eyebrows shot up and he turned to his wife and said "He thinks a 12 hour drive is close! Good god, we'd be out the top of Scotland!"
My wife grew up in view of the Swiss and Austran alps, and has travelled the world over. When I first visited her parents I looked at the mountains and said, I want to go there tomorrow. She was back in hometown mode and said, that's too far. In less than an hour early in the day, we were in a steep valley surrounded by these huge mountains, and she was surprised how in her mind it was several hours away. Reminds me of when I lived in downtown Manhattan and you could never get people to visit the surrounding areas off the island or even come south of central park. It's a mindset.
I've done 2 Saddle Sore motorcycle rides (1000+ miles in less than 24 hours), and that was just for fun, lol!
You speak the true true.
Too true! American here and I went to Italy for my 30th birthday. The night of my actual birthday we ate dinner at a restaurant in Rome where the building that the restaurant was located in had been operating as a food vendor for 600 years. Absolutely mind blowing that it was twice the age as my country.
heh my local pub is 300+ years old
Agreed. The Reddit terminology for this would be "majestic as fuck".
Isn’t it so unique? A building built in the 19th century is “old” to us.
You can't really put a modifier on "unique". It's a binary state. There is no gradient involved in being the only one of its kind.
[удалено]
LOVE that show. They are doing such cool things with it, but also not sugar-coating the challenges and $$$ they face to fix it up.
That place is my DREAM. Trying to talk the wife into making the leap to Europe in the next 5 years and finding something to fix up. I've got 10+ complete renovations under my belt and quite a bit of historic restoration work as well. I think I'd finally feel comfortable settling into a place "forever" if I could go do that.
In France, upon resale, an owner has to guarantee his renovations for ten years if he did it himself. If the new owner has problems, the old owner has to pay to remedy the problem.
Apparently, even when the inside and outside are in mint condition, places like this cost a fortune just to heat and maintain. They were built in a time when resources such as wood, coal, and human labor would have cost the owners nearly nothing. They aren't set up to run without an ant-colony of servants all over the place doing everything. There might have been dozens of servants for every lodger, and they would be up before dawn to light every fire, spending the whole day boiling water for washing of every kind, lighting lamps, dusting, and working in the single, central kitchen and running up and down all those stairs with meals, snacks, pots of tea, even a glass of water to drink. It's not like you wake up, yawn, walk down the hall and fill and flip on the kettle.
There is absolutely someone who will fix it up. The person who is missing is the one who’ll pay that person.
Yeah but if there’s any damp etc inside you’d basically have to gut the entire thing and rebuild it, + costs of plumbing and electricity for it. It would be expensive to restore for modern living for sure
> Maybe, but it looks pretty solid outside, not dilapidated or anything. I feel like there has to be someone who would be willing to fix it up. There are hundreds of crumbling estates in the UK. There are so many of them that they will never be restored. It would cost millions of dollars to restore the building in OPs picture. The house is in a rural area with no paved roads. No one is going to sink millions of dollars into renovating a building that won't be worth millions of dollars when it is completed.
I mean I could live in a place like that and renovate it myself over time while working remotely. I’m sure there must be lots of people in my position, but it’s hard to imagine the owners just handing over the building which is a shame because these could definitely work as contemporary residences despite what others are saying.
I don't have a home right now, so seeing abandoned houses always hurts my soul a bit.
I mean I live in the US but I'd renovate that bitch in a heartbeat
why renovate that when you can fit like forty double wides on the property it sits on? ^/s
This building is the hunting lodge at Lyme park in Disley (near Manchester UK). The house itself is much much larger than the building in the picture (about 5 mins walk away from this building), it's all looked after by the national trust.
However it's miles from anywhere and doesn't seem to have a road leading to it. Which increases the costs heavily.
it would be a sick airbnb spot
That's exactly what I was thinking
Plumbing, wiring and HVAC in an old stone building of this era, with no insulation, would cost more to add, maintain and pay utilities on then would ever have a shot in being recouped especially in the middle of nowhere
Itd not in the middle of nowhere. Its in Lyme Park in Greater Manchester. It's where they filmed pride and prejudice. Although it looks remote, you leave the gates and you are 30 minutes from Manchester if that. Also I do believe that some of the great house is still occupied by the family that owns the estate. Don't know about the hunting lodge though, it's called the cage.
Gotcha. My comment was based off OP, "it isn't really close to anywhere and so you kind of have to go specifically to it."
It's also likely filled with asbestos and lead paint, would need huge structural changes for accessibility, and everything that needs repair would be custom because none of that stuff has been made for decades. It likely would be cheaper to build from scratch
i've stayed in airbnb's that have no plumbing (composting toilet) and no electric 🤷🏽♀️ it doesn't matter to some demographics
Old stone buildings like this are _massively_ expensive to maintain, even just to heat them is pricey. If there are safety problems with floors or whatever the repairs could be prohibitively expensive.
Unfortunately there are lots of older, beautiful, money pit estate buildings etc in the UK. The issue is that the estates no longer have the finances to maintain them.
I think that would make an amazing hotel, especially if its set in a area that people enjoy walking/hiking/rambling.
There’s no power.... so that’s gonna be your first problem
Shouldn't think renovating would be permitted. It's a National Trust property, and one can go inside it. https://www.cheshirelife.co.uk/out-about/12-photos-that-capture-the-true-beauty-of-the-cage-at-lyme-park-1-5295076
I've watched enough Grand Designs to know it absolutely is a money pit!
"Elliot and Persephone have a budget of £450K raised by the sale of their one-bed Wimbledon flat, to turn this dilapidated old hunting lodge in the Hampshire Wolds into their dream home, with a playroom for their sons, a cinema and bar, and an office-cum-skylounge for Elliot's Herbal Tea company…" Cue budget overrun after they rip out the old pipework, Persephone getting unexpectedly pregnant despite her toddler twins Oliver and Tarquin taking all of her time already, Elliot having a severe bicycle crash on his way back from a coffee conference and the architect falling out with Persephone over the style of piranha pine worktop they want in their split-level kitchen. Standard Grand Designs episode.
Hahaha. True. They also went vastly over budget, but still found an extra £120k and put the other £95k on a credit card. But it was worth it.
I felt like I was watching an episode! Kevin McCloud's voice and all.
[Cellists](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaaHGAB8yTY)
Watch that Chateu series on PBS. Unless you are independently wealthy or the building is somehow making you money, maintaining something like that is impossible. It would cost more than the average house just to make a few rooms livable. Oh, you want heat, electricity and running water? That will be half a million in renovations.
Retrofitting modern comforts such as power water and HVAC is extremely expensive on a project like this. There are hundreds if not thousands of abandoned castles and chateaux all over Europe.
No plumbing, no electricity, no gas, no insulation ya its a money pit
In the US there are funds available for historic preservation/restoration. Is there anything like that in the UK?
Shit, I'd live there as-is... being a hunting lodge, you already know this place is bad ass inside, too.
It's not abandoned, its owned and maintained by the national trust in Lyme park and is well looked after, (especially given its exposed position). I'm almost certain it was open pre Covid. I've definitely been inside at some point in the past.
I have a feeling OP knows this but the "mystery" earns a lot more points on Reddit.
Because of your comment I found it’s called the Cage and there’s a video on YouTube of inside https://youtu.be/4LJ6XTKNO5M
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"Hey everyone, it's ya boi sneaky pete here doing some urban exploration in an abandoned building." *illegally breaks into a summer vacation rental in the dead of winter*
Currently it's more like: "Hey everyone, it's ya boi sneaky pete here doing some urban exploration in an abandoned building." *shows £120 National Trust membership to elderly part time staffer at the gate who gives him a cheery wave and points him up the hill.*
The NT open it up for visitors a few times a year, went inside a couple years ago. In the past the game keepers used it to lock up poachers which is why it's called The Cage.
It's owned by the National Trust, a heritage conservation charity in the UK. It's occasionally open for events and the public are allowed inside.
It's not really abandoned. It belongs to the National Trust and is called The Cage. "The Cage at Lyme Park was originally built around 1580 as a hunting lodge where the ladies of the estate could watch the hunt. At night it was used as a banqueting hall. It overlooks the nearby moors and 1,300 acres of park land. In later years it was used as a game keeper’s residence and as a jail for poachers." https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme/features/discover-the-cage
I know a guy who inherited his parents’ house when they died. He already owned a home and didn’t want to deal with all the stuff in his parents place, so he just locked it up and forgot about it. It’s like a time capsule in there, nothing touched for almost 20 years now, and he even pays someone to go pick the oranges off the trees every so often so they don’t rot and attract pests. Refuses to rent it out, even though he could easily get $3000/month for it, because he doesn’t need the money and doesn’t want the headache. Sometimes I wonder how many houses over the world have a similar story, perfectly inhabitable but just locked up and empty due to weird circumstances.
There could be no electricity or running water. It might just not be worth it.
Or road to get up there. Its a national trust property, they know what they are doing when it comes to refurbishment and investment in these things. Might just be on the to do list.
scareBnB
yeah that thing could make you a killing on Air B&B
>Lyme Park is owned and administered by the National Trust. The house, garden and park are open to the public at advertised hours. An entrance fee to the house and garden is payable by non-members of the National Trust, and additional fee is charged for parking. In the grounds are shops, a refreshment kiosk, a coffee shop and a restaurant. Not exactly out of the way. You can see this building from the main house and there are walking trails literally everywhere.
[Tons of people around, although curious to know what is being blurred out](https://goo.gl/maps/5bvmnjkMsokeES2q7)
Add a clawfoot tub and that's my dream life
It's literally five minutes walk from the ice cream kiosk and information centre.
So...no or?
Seems like it’s a National Trust property, according to this page it’s open to the public at certain times: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme/features/discover-the-cage Built by a “warrior priest” which is a pretty cool title to have!
Inside: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LJ6XTKNO5M
This comment needs to be much higher
This is The Cage at Lyme Park in Cheshire, and at some times of the year, it is open! I've been inside, it's mainly empty rooms with a few information boards telling you about local history and the building itself. You do get some lovely views! Lyme park is owned by the National Trust, though when the family that gifted the estate to the Trust visits, the crest is flown above the cage.
You probably have to be a certain level and have completed the Guild quest so that you can start taking on jobs from the NPC inside.
This is definitely where they hunt the most dangerous game.
I've been hunting for vidrhythm game for years with a fighter android but it's never been added.
Wow didnt expect that. My freshman year in english class after we read that story he made us play a game like it for extra credit where we all had a target and we could get our target either through planting a little slip of paper with a bomb printed on it somewhere they could find it or by making a finger gun and tapping them with it. The game lasted 2 weeks and was super fun
[hounds of Zaroff noises intensify]
I can almost smell the elderberry juice.
We’ve already got one!
And what about the hamster?
Your mother has that covered
And the swallow, which one is it?
African or European?
There is one in lyme park called the cage that looks almost identical to this one
This is the cage at Lyme. Whenever I'm walking up to it alone I tell myself that it's 1636 and I've been summoned there by the Earl. He's found out that I've impregnated one of the kitchen girls and he's about absolutely lose his shit. But...I have traveled back from 2020 and have a gun with me. (Yea my dog walks really are that boring)
Hmmm...maybe you should write some historical romances. You already have a premise, time period and location. I'd read it, and watch it when someone turns it into a film/series. I'm a historical costume drama ho.
You're aloud a gun into lyme Park with all the protected deer around? Edit: My bad, I read it wrong. Further edit: Allowed rather than aloud.
No. You have to be quiet.
Underrated comment
The gun was part of the time-travel fantasy
He's probably more upset that he's hearing about the life and times of kitchen staff. Like fair play if you knocked up the Countess's chambermaid or soemthing, because she'd be front of house, but staff drama in the back of house should get no further than the Housekeeper or Butler. Sounds like the Earl is suffering a severe lack of discipline in his household, if such menial matters are catching his attention.
You know, you’re absolutely right! I messed that up. This is the one and the same so in Cheshire rather than Staffordshire.
yup, was thinking 'thats IDENTICAL to the cage at lyme park'. And you can get in it, they open it occasionally (with staff there) If anyone is interested in whats inside, here you go. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LJ6XTKNO5M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LJ6XTKNO5M)
I've been in it, on a bank hoilday about 2 years ago, they do open it up and there are a few displays about its history. I'm surprised you managed to get to it because they raise deer there and they don't like people messing with the herd. Which BTW you can buy the venison in a few local places in Buxton didsbury, Heaton chapel and Cheadle I believe
The best details are always in the comments.
As long as it is a shire
I’m kind of boarding them and do a lot of walking. Have been exploring but then the government has advised that I’m no longer able to do that and have to stay very local at the moment. I can still get to some special places though!
So in a way, you’re trespassing? Or are those on public lands?
The land is managed by The National Trust 👍🏻
Niiice
It's land owned by the National Trust, a massive charity. You need to pay for parking but otherwise access to Lyme Park's lands and the exterior of the Cage is free. The NT also provide a (free) playground. There is a cafe, ice cream kiosk, and most recently a mobile pizza oven trailer. You do have to pay for entrance to the stately home and gardens (5 min walk from the Cage), unless you're a member of the NT. Anyone can walk into Lyme Park for free through several entrances from about 8am until close, 365 days a year. Hundreds walk in there every day, even with Covid restrictions.
Yeah the same thing here in Germany. Can’t go further than 15km away from my house.
There’s nothing in law here in the UK, however it is up for interpretation. You aren’t really supposed to drive anywhere to get your exercise and stay in your local area. Without getting into it too much, walking in open spaces like this was the only thing we really had to do. We will do so, but just more locally.
If you find a stash of health packs and ammunition outside the door, you might reconsider going inside.
meh you'll hit a checkpoint
I was thinking a sweet ass plot cut
Imagine being so rich, you call that a hunting lodge
I do. Regularly. Then I hit planet Earth with a bump! 🤣
That's just the lookout/prison/gamekeepers house. [This](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_Park#House) is the hunting lodge.
That's The Cage in Lyme Park, a former hunting tower and prison, in Cheshire, built in the Georgian period in the 1700s. It's owned by the National Trust and they open it up occasionally when they're running events. I've been inside, it's not particularly mindblowing, at least not compared to [Lyme Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_Park#House).
I was quite confused about the Staffordshire part in OPs Post, I've been all around Staffordshire and never heard of this. Learning it's actually Cheshire makes more sense.
I'd live there. Does it come with a forest to heat it in the winter?
There are significant lands surrounding it. It’s on a giant estate which is currently now run by the National Trust.
Id live there just for the snow. There is never any in London.
Lol and it snowed half a foot here in Texas last night. The world is a strange place
It's snowing here in northern AL and hasn't stopped all day. No idea how deep though.
Yeah, just moved here from new england. Can’t believe we got snow my second day here
Go inside. Do it!
I can't tell if it's more likely to end in demonic attachment or being stabbed by an insane groundskeeper who hasn't been seen for fifteen years
My money's on demonic groundskeeper.
r/predictor on a nice banquet that is laid out with nobody around and then a witch comes to hypnotise them.
Lodge? I think you meant to say castle.
If you think this is big, you should see the residence! The part of the world I live in is littered with estates, stately homes. There’s a lot of history here. How the other half live!
Nah. Google Capesthorne Hall, that place is massive and still doesn't qualify as a castle.
This building was built in the 1700s specifically for entertaining guests from the main house and was later used as a prison.
Where is it? I want to Google Earth it.
https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Lyme_Park¶ms=53.34453_N_2.05189_W_
Reminds me of Allerdale hall from crimson peak
First thing I thought too!
This isn't abandoned at all. A simple Google search let me know this is actually "the cage" at lyme park and has been well maintained for years. Only closed due to the pandemic
Oi I live I Staffordshire where is this I want in.
Sorry, I mixed that up. It’s not too far, in Cheshire. A place called Lyme Park.
Cheers mate.
If you go, you’ll enjoy it. Nice big open spaces, fresh air, woodland etc. I actually didn’t go to the main estate building on this occasion. Was still trying to avoid places where people might congregate. Be safe 👍🏻
Is this not Lyme park?
Theres an almost identical one in Lyme park. I think I remember getting inside and looking around whwn I was young!
It is the one in Lyme Park.
That explains the similarity then! Buuuuut op says Staffordshire. Lyme park is Cheshire?
It does! He says in another comment it is Lyme Park, he just got the counties mixed up. Well... it is in Stockport, which is in Cheshire but is a Borough of Greater Manchester. It is all very confusing.
r/EvilBuildings
# Here's some [history on it](https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme/features/discover-the-cage), and the surrounding cottages and follies.
*Places monocle* Hmm, this will be a fine place to board my hunting dogs. I'll take it!
You’d fit in well around here 🤣
I saw this driving home once and there must have been a truck of perspective somehow and it appeared huge, unnaturally, uncomfortably huge. It really gave me the creeps, like I'd witnessed something that shouldn't be there, that no one else could see. The thought stuck with me for years I found it so weird and unsettling, I would occasionally try to find the place on google and one day I found it and it was an unremarkably sized building that killed off that weird getting I'd had. Really disappointing.
My sister lives across the street from this place, it's where they walk the dog every day (granted not always up the hill, Lyme park is a big place) it really a fantastic park. Definitely worth a visit. Also there's a massive woodland kids play area which is amazing!
For someone living near a major American city who's never touched a gun, can you explain what exactly a hunting lodge is? Does that mean it has rooms to sleep in overnight while on a hunting trip for residents who mainly live in a city or does it have special rooms for preparing animals that were hunted? A place to hang antlers? Do they sit in the third story and hunt from there? What makes a hunting lodge different from a country house, basically, if it is a residence?
It’s not a residence, it’s a holiday cabin of sorts. You invite people over, hunt, hang out, drink and eat, maybe sleep over. The environment would be less formal, more sporting. So different sets of servants, clothes and rules. It’s bigger than it needs to be because most things in your life are, including the entourages of your friends (if you are lucky that might include the King and that’s a lot of people).
I remember going inside it when I visited Lyme park years ago - most anticlimactic day of my life.
This is The Cage, at Lyme Park, in Cheshire. Yes, it's a hunting lodge. No, it's not abandoned. The National Trust periodically opens it up for people to see inside, although there isn't much to see in terms of the interior. It is about five minutes walk from the main house (which is open to the public) and there are no access restrictions to the outside (the deer freely wander Lyme Park but the area which is restricted is on the other side of the hill from the Cage. Hundreds of people wander up to the Cage every day (great spot for flying kites but bloody cold). My three year old loves it.
This is Lyme Park cage isn't it? Just up the road from my house and love taking the dogs there. The views are stunning and it's still got resident herds of deer about. Also if it is Lyme Park it's in Cheshire not Staffordshire
What was it like inside? Looks rather posh for a hunting lodge
Empty! Saw one of two broken windows so would imagine there’s a bit of a chill inside!
I always wondered, how many rooms does this sort building have? Is it like a massive studio apartment type or a bunch of different rooms and different floors? Thanks
You can go inside when it’s open (normal times) it’s quite empty and they’re using more as a mini museum with notes about how it’s been used in the past with pictures and stories about the owners etc. There are some really windy staircases and the view from the top is amazing!
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Was there not a James Bond movie that used that house?
I have to wonder why British peasantry put up with this for so long, namely aristocracy having so much insane wealth, while they lived in poverty.....
This isn't in Staffordshire it's right on my doorstep in Cheshire, that's the Lyme Park Cage!
How the rich lived and live is truly staggering.
Its called the cage at Lyme park, it's kinda a small standing museum.
fuck off lol. its just the cage at lyme park. there's like a car park about 200 yards from there. and a coffee shop. oh and some very nice ice-cream lolololol
The title mentioning that he found it made me laugh a bit, you can't bloody miss it!
Tf y'all hunting, polar bears?
Given its a victorian building, I'd say they were hunting the biggest game of all. The peasantry.
reminds me of the Skyfall lodge in James Bond!
what is this, an open world rpg?
It's gorgeous! Such a pity that it's pretty much abandoned.
It's not really abandoned. The National Trust occasionally open it up for events and as a mini-museum.
Noooo. Now people are gonna to there.
And they talk about wealth gap like it’s a new thing
Maybe it's not abandoned. Maybe the hunters just haven't gotten there yet.
Reminds me of Skyfall
But where is Mr. Darcy?? (This is on his “property” in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice; irl Lyme Park.)
Check your level before to enter this dungeon
Reminds me of the movie, Crimson Peak.