Have you ever taken a trip to Blenheim Palace?
Situated in the pretty town of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, Blenheim Palace is easily accessible from the A34 and makes a perfect spot for a day out.
Gifted to the 1st Duke of Marlborough in 1704 by a very grateful Queen Anne as thanks for his victory at the battle of Blenheim. With a Capability Brown landscape that took ten years to construct it is no wonder that it has now been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is however, still also the family home of the Marlborough family, currently headed by the 12th Duke of Marlborough, Charles Spencer Churchill. Though to be fair it is unlikely you will spot him or his family padding about the place.
There is a real sense of history about the place, more so than many of the other historical houses we have visited, and that is probably due to the fact it is still lived in, and by the same family who have owned it for over 400 years. When you think about it, it really does take your breath away.
Blenheim is probably most famous for one of the previous occupants, Sir Winston Churchill, who once said:
At Blenheim I took two very important decisions: to be born and to marry
The area was clearly very dear to him as he is buried just a few miles away in the churchyard at Bladon, something I wrote about a few years ago: Window Wednesday, Bladon Church It really is the tiniest of churches, and you have to have a good wander around to find his grave. I still can’t believe he wasn’t buried in Westminster Abbey, though this part of the world is stunning and so I can see why he would have said he wanted this quiet corner of Oxfordshire to be his last resting place.
Other fascinating sights at the Palace include this stunning cake, all made out of icing sugar in 1957. Utterly beautiful. Blenheim is magical, huge, awe inspiring and well worth a visit wearing comfortable shoes because you can walk for miles. You can see a number of rooms but you can also pay for a private tour and see other parts of the house too, well worth doing as it truly feels like you have been granted access to the inner sanctum of somewhere quite special.
You can find out more about Blenheim, special events and exhibitions, and how to get 50% off entry tickets by clicking here
Also worth nothing that you can turn your tickets into an annual pass so you can revisit and see the bits you didn’t manage to see the first time. Or wander the grounds on a day drier than the day of our visit mid storm!
(and if you want to stay over locally then we can highly recommend the Feathers Hotel in Woodstock who have the most impressive gin collection and a menu featuring locally sourced produce.
If you have travelled from further afield and are in the South East for a while then why not head over to Hampshire (my neck of the woods) and explore one of the place’s Laura mentions on her “Days out in Hampshire“ post. Or if you’re visiting in the spring, find somewhere local to explore a glorious patch of snowdrops as listed in this post from Mandi: Stunning snowdrop walks