Blenheim Palace

Parliament voted the manor of Woodstock and the money for a house to John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, after his victory at Blenheim in 1704, and Vanbrugh built it between 1705 and 1722 in an English baroque so monumental that it caused a permanent quarrel: the Duchess Sarah hated it, the money ran out repeatedly, and Vanbrugh was eventually barred from the site. It is the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England called a palace. Capability Brown reshaped the park from 1763, damming the Glyme to make a lake that turned Vanbrugh's oversized bridge into something that finally looked right. Winston Churchill was born there in 1874, in a small ground-floor room, and is buried in the churchyard at Bladon within sight of the house. UNESCO listed it in 1987.

History

The palace was meant as a reward to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, for his victories in the War of the Spanish Succession, which culminated at Blenheim in 1704; the land was a gift, and building began in 1705 with some money from Queen Anne, but the project became a political battleground, the Crown stopped paying in 1712, and it was finished in 1722. The 1st Duke spent most of his fortune on it, the 5th Duke squandered the family's wealth, and by the 1870s the 7th Duke was selling treasures, until Charles, the 9th Duke, saved the palace and the family. Winston Churchill was born here, and in 1987 it became a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Blenheim Palace).

What to look for

• The Vanbrugh baroque - a monumental house its own patron detested.
• The Brown landscape - a dammed lake that resolved the scale of the bridge.
• Churchill's birth room - a modest ground-floor bedroom, kept as an exhibit.
• The Long Library - a room of fifty-five metres with a Willis organ.

When to go

April to October for the park and gardens at their best; the palace opens year-round with a Christmas light trail in the park from November. The formal gardens and the maze are seasonal.

Before you go

Tickets are expensive, though they convert free to an annual pass, which the palace pushes. The site is very large and a full visit is a whole day with substantial walking. The house remains a family home and parts are closed.

Nearby

Woodstock village is at the gate; Oxford lies twelve kilometres south.

Key facts