Unfortunately, we failed to make as early a start as I had intended, so we arrived at Blenheim Palace a good deal later than I had intended. Paul found lots of little jobs to do, including spraying the weeds on the terrace, so we were very late in leaving, and the traffic on the M25 round Heathrow was truly appalling. Then things got worse. The usually wonderful Apple Maps, for some unknown reason, decided to direct us to a back entrance to Blenheim where there was no access to the public, and we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere with no clear idea of where the proper entrance might be. I finally managed to find it, no thanks to Apple Maps, and I suppose it didn’t really matter that we were so late because after our 3 hour visit when they threw us out at closing time, we were both too tired to have done any more anyway.
Blenheim Palace really is a Palace, the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to have the title of Palace. It was named for the 1704 Battle of Blenheim and was originally intended as a reward for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, for his military triumphs agains the French and the Bavarians during the war of the Spanish Succession. The land was given by the Crown as a gift, and building began in 1705 with some financial support from Queen Anne, though this was later cancelled after it became the subject of political infighting.
The architect was Sir John Vanbrugh, a dramatist and designer who was untrained as an architect and usually worked with the trained architect Nicholas Hawksmoor; they had just completed the first stages of Castle Howard in Yorkshire, and the Duke is supposed to have commissioned Vanbrugh much against the wishes of the Duchess, who would have preferred Sir Christopher Wren.
The style of the house is Baroque, but there were constant arguments between Vanbrugh the Duchess about extravagance and the impracticality of the design, and he was eventually dismissed.
The place is enormous, it apparently covers 7 acres
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The entrance is monumental and imposing, and the Great Hall where you enter is huge, with a ceiling painted at great cost by Sir James Thornhill, of whom I had never previously heard.
Rooms succeeded rooms, each full of portraits hung in rows several deep, antique furniture and other precious items, all decorated with expensive embossed wallpapers.
In the Great Dining Room, a portrait of Sarah, 1st Duchess of Marlborough (with another lady) hangs over the door.
It was close by a Reynolds portrait of a later Duchess.
Many of the portraits were by famous artists, like the one below.
In the Red Drawing Room, a Reynolds painting of the 4th Duke and his family hangs opposite John Singer Sargent’s one of the 9th Duke and his family. Above is the Singer Sergent, which I like better.
The Green writing room sees the start of a great series of tapestries commissioned by the 1st Duke after his military victories - to my way of thinking, a rather unpleasant example of self-aggrandisement! However, they are obviously historically important, being described as the most detailed and accurate records that exist of these events, since the weavers worked from battle plans and portraits of the main characters.
The first tapestry is the Blenheim tapestry where the 1st Duke is shown as he accepts Marshall Tallard’s surrender after the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.
The Saloon is a most amazing space, I won’t call it a room, it’s too overwhelming. The walls and ceilings are covered with huge murals, the doorways are designed by Hawksmoor and the west door is carved by Grindling Gibbons.
This photo gives only a vague impression of it, it’s too big to photograph. There is a trompe l’oeil ceiling painting as well
The ceiling is actually flat, not recessed as it appears.
To complete the overwhelming impression, there is a huge silver centrepiece weighing 50 kg, depicting the 1st Duke on Horseback writing the dispatch after Blenheim that he then sent to his wife so she could personally deliver the news to Queen Anne.
More State Rooms follow, then the Long Library, 55 metres long, with a huge organ at the far end.
It looks out on the formal gardens on one side. It was used as a school dormitory during World War ll.
On the opposite side, a suite of rooms is used to house mementos of Sir Winston Churchill, of which the most interesting I think is the room in which he was born.
I assume that to be the bed in which he was born. His paintings cover the walls and his easel stands by the fireplace.
The colonnade outside the Long Library leads into the chapel where Winston Churchill was christened and it also houses the monument dedicated to the first Duke and Duchess, which is completely over the top.
Outside we visited the formal gardens, which I failed to photograph because I had forgotten my camera and the phone ran out. We had hoped to walk in the huge park as well, but it was closing time and we were both tired out anyway, so we drove off to our overnight hotel.
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