Blenheim Palace facts for kids

Blenheim Palace is a grand building in the town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK. In a way, it was designed to impress. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

The palace was built to celebrate a great victory over the French at Blenheim, in 1704. The great country home was designed by architects Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. It has a park that was landscaped by Capability Brown.

Blenheim was the home of John Churchill, who was the 1st Duke of Marlborough. His successors still live in the palace.

Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim.

Blenheim Palace and its grounds were named a World Heritage Site, in 1987.

Gallery

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  Drawing of main entrance, 1715

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  General plan, 1725

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  Wrought iron gate

Related pages

• List of World Heritage Sites of the United Kingdom

Images for kids

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  Blenheim Palace

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  c.1705 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

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  Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough 1700 by Sir Godfrey Kneller

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  Engraving of Blenheim Palace

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  The architect Sir John Vanbrugh c.1705, in a painting by Godfrey Kneller

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  Blenheim Palace ("John Vanbrugh's castle air"): west facade showing the unique severe towering stone belvederes ornamenting the skyline

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  The Grand Bridge in Blenheim Park 1722-24 by Vanbrugh

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  The Hensington Gates the main entrance to Blenheim Park 1709 by Hawksmoor

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  An 18th-century engraving showing The Great Court

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  Blenheim Palace, unscaled plan of the piano nobile. An enfilade of 9 state rooms runs the length of the southern facade of the palace (marked "N" to "G" at the top of the figure). It is a tribute to the craftsmanship of the carpenters who installed the doors between the rooms that with the keys removed it is possible to look through them all, from one end of the enfilade to the other. Key A: Hall; B: Saloon; C: Green Writing Room; L: Red Drawing Room; M: Green Drawing Room; N: Grand Cabinet; H: Library; J: covered colonnade; K: Birth Room of Sir Winston Churchill; H2: Chapel; O: Bow room.

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  Grand salon, Blenheim Palace, c. 1918, William Bruce Ellis Ranken

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  The architect slightly tapered the sides of the east gate to create an illusion of even greater height, the wrought iron gates date from the 1840s.

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  The pediment over the south portico is a complete break from the convention. The flat top is decorated by a trophy bearing the marble bust of Louis XIV looted by Marlborough from Tournai in 1709, weighing 30 tons. The positioning of the bust was an innovative new design in the decoration of a pediment.

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  Great Hall ceiling, The Duke of Marlborough presenting the plan for the battle of Blenheim to Britannia, painted 1716 for £978 by Sir James Thornhill

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  Tomb of the 1st Duke of Marlborough in the palace chapel 1733, cost £2,200 designed by William Kent sculpted by John Michael Rysbrack

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  The Triumph of the Duke of Marlborough, Saloon ceiling c.1720 by Louis Laguerre

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  Library by Nicholas Hawksmoor 1722–1725, with pipe organ at the far end 1890–1891

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  Saloon with murals c.1720 cost £500 by Louis Laguerre

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  The Temple of Diana 1772–1773 by Willam Chambers

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  Blenheim Palace, looking across the east facade's Italian garden to the orangery, which both adorns and disguises the walls of the domestic east court. The East gate is seen rising above.

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  Blenheim Palace Park and gardens in 1835

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  The Column of Victory in the Palace grounds, 1727–1730 designed by Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke

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  The Great Lake c. 1764–1774 by Capability Brown

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  The cascade where the water flows out of the Great Lake

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  Woodstock gate to park, 1723 by Nicholas Hawksmoor

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  Charles, 9th Duke of Marlborough with his family in 1905 by John Singer Sargent

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  The water terraces on the west side of the Palace, created 1925-31 by Achille Duchêne

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  Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough

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  The "Bernini Fountain", a scaled copy of the fountain in Rome's Piazza Navona given to the 1st Duke, was placed on the second terrace by Duchêne.

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  The Italian Garden on the east side of the Palace 1908-10 by Duchêne fountain added in 1910 by American sculptor Waldo Story

See also

In Spanish: Palacio de Blenheim para niños