Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Henry I (1100-35) appears to have first enclosed the park at Woodstock at the beginning of the 12th century, it subsequently becoming an important royal hunting park. The park was focused on Woodstock Palace, a medieval hunting lodge of 12th-century origin, occupied by many monarchs and their spouses, who developed the buildings and surrounding gardens. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, was rewarded by Queen Anne in 1705 for his services in defeating the French in Europe, by the grant of the Royal Manor of Woodstock, given with the understanding that she would build him, at her own expense, a house to be called Blenheim (named after the 1704 victory at the battle of Blindheim, close to the Danube). The former royal hunting park was probably then in poor condition, and the remains of Woodstock Palace were pulled down (despite a letter from Sir John Vanbrugh (1709) to the Duchess pleading for its retention, on grounds of historical association, as an eyecatcher) and its gardens removed.

The new palace, built 1705-22, was designed, together with the monumental Grand Bridge over the little River Glyme, by Sir John Vanbrugh (assisted by Nicholas Hawksmoor), and was set within a great formal garden designed by Henry Wise (1653-1738), Queen Anne's Royal Gardener. Following the Duke's death in 1722, a formal canal scheme designed by Colonel Armstrong, his chief engineer, was implemented by the Duchess along the course of the River Glyme. In 1764 Lancelot Brown (1716-83) was called in, producing a plan to landscape the central core of the park which included flooding the river valley to produce a large lake, and landscaping the surrounds, with new belt plantings around the park boundary. In the early 19th century the 5th Duke created a substantial rock garden and series of flower gardens (mostly gone) south of Brown's lake. In the late 19th to early 20th century the 9th Duke carried out much restoration and replanting within the park, and created formal gardens to the west and east of the house, designed 1908-30 by Achille Duchene. Restoration of park planting has continued during the 20th century, and the estate remains (1998) in private ownership.