Just Keep Saying "Hello"!: Day 105 - Blenheim Palace: Built with royal funds, saved by US dollars

Blenheim Palace and park. Source: https://www.blenheimpalace.com/

With the current travel theme being military history (as we have Alex visiting), today we opted to take a trip to nearby Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. It is famous in more-recent history as being the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, and we were keen to see the current exhibit at the palace of his life.

We took the local train three stops to Hanborough, then enjoyed the 2.5-mile walk to the palace. Along the way, we stopped at the small village of Bladon. It is here, at the small St. Martin's Church, that you find the graves of the Spencer-Churchill family, including Sir Winston Churchill.

Following a visit to the church, we enjoyed a really lovely lunch at the The White House pub, which has been a public house since the 16th Century.

The palace and its vast grounds have UNESCO World Heritage status having met two specific criteria. The first is that the palace and park are examples of the start of the English Romantic movement "which was characterised by the eclecticism of its inspiration, its return to national sources and its love of nature." It's design went on to influence design throughout England and the world. The second UNESCO criteria it met has to do with its historical significance. It was built in the 18th century as a gift to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill. The Duke was a hero to the nation for his involvement in the victory over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession. As military commander, he led the Allied forces in the Battle of Blenheim on August 13, 1704. (The war was about who had the right to succeed Charles II as king.

Photo by Alex Walsh.

Queen Anne gave the Duke the Royal Manor of Woodstock, which was in ruin, along with £240,000 to use to build a house on the property (one man's "house" is another man's "palace," I suppose). An interesting note: Blenheim "Palace" is the only non-royal house in England to be called a palace.

One of the beautiful tapestries depicting the battle of Blenheim.
Photo by Alex Walsh.

It is every inch a palace. The rooms are designed to impress on the grandest of scales. Silk covered walls. Gold leaf everywhere. Tapestries that take 2 years to clean at a cost of 250,000 GBP each.

The palace sits amid more than 2,000 acres of land -- a path around the entire perimeter of the park is 5 miles in length and takes about 90 minutes to 2 hours to walk (not a bad size for a back garden). Famous landscape architect Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown constructed the completely man-made 40-acre Great Lake on the property (it took two years to fill) and planted thousands of trees many designed to look "naturally" planted. He was at Blenheim for 10 years, working for the 4th Duke of Marlborough.

Consuelo with the 9th Duke and their two sons.
This painting is by John Singer Sargent, who
is said to have placed the Duke on a lower
(non-existent) step in the portrait room in
order to hide the difference in his height
(5' 7") from Consuelo's (6' 2"). Also, isn't it
horrible how the second son (the "spare to
the title) is positioned off to the side...even
the dog is closer!

As anyone who has watched Downton Abbey will know, there came a point in British history where death duties were taking their toll on the finances of large estates. The answer: marry a wealthy American heiress. In the case of Blenheim, the 9th Duke of Marlborough was near bankruptcy, but found his pile of gold by marrying into the railroad-rich Vanderbilt family. His bride was 18-year-old Consuelo Vanderbilt, a 6' 2" slim beauty, with a domineering mother who wanted a title for her daughter. When Consuelo refused to marry the Duke, her mother locked her in her room and feign deathly illness until she changed her mind. It is said Consuelo stayed in her room crying right up to the wedding ceremony.

It was a loveless marriage, that would end in divorce. But Consuelo brought US$2.5 million (approximately US$67.7 million in 2015 dollars) in railroad stock to the marriage. Funds from this "dowry" still help fund the palace's upkeep today.

Photo by Alex Walsh

Now, let's get to Winston Churchill and how he is related to Blenheim. Churchill's grandfather was the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his father was the Duke's fourth son, Lord Randolph Churchill (who was a well-regarded politician in his own right, but in the end became infamous for being Sir Winston's father).

The small room at Blenheim at which Sir Winston made his
entrance into the world.

Sir Winston loved that he could claim to have been born at Blenheim Palace (a place he loved dearly), but it was a bit of a fluke. It is said that his mother was visiting the palace when she was 7 months pregnant and went into labour after an evening of dancing at a ball. As a result, he came into the world rather quickly when his mother was led into a room being used to house the coats and boas of the ladies at the ball.

Churchill spend much of his youth at Blenheim until he went off to boarding school, but he returned here for summer holidays. He even chose to propose to the love of his life, Clementine, at Blenheim, and was helped along in this endeavour by his first cousin, the 9th Duke of Marlborough (the one above married to Consuelo).

The Duke and Churchill were close friends throughout their lives, so Churchill was able to come and go as he pleased. As a result, his association with Blenheim continued throughout his life.

The palace has created a small, but wonderful exhibit on Churchill that takes you into rooms you may not otherwise see on your tour of the State Apartments. It's well worth a visit.

It takes a lot of work to keep a
palace of this size "in good nick."

We converted our entry tickets to annual passes (at no extra charge) so we can go back and explore the grounds. But for now, it was time to head back to the rail station before the rain came in. I'll leave you with some further photos of the State Apartments (most were taken by Alex).

The magnificent organ. At one time during the war,
a boys' school was moved here temporarily. The
boys played cricket in the Library wing, in which this
organ sits at one end. One of the boys climbed
into the organ and stole the five smallest pipes.
A couple of years ago, his widow found them
amongst his things and returned them to the palace.