There is only one thing better than spending vacation time in an art museum, and that is visiting a great country house in England. Natural beauty, history, architectural delights, and fine art abound in those places and Blenheim Palace certainty has all of those features. To me, locations like this, not a tropical beach, are paradise.
Some background first: from roughly the 13th through the 19th centuries, Britain was at odds with France and its allies. In the first years of the 1700s, the two countries were at war yet again. A decisive battle was fought that went in favor of the British — the battle of Blenheim, fought on German soil. Leading that battle was British General John Churchill. His service to his country won him the thanks of a grateful monarch in the form of a huge piece of land and the subsidies to have a grand house built on it. Today we know it as Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire — home to the Dukes of Marlborough, of which John Churchill was the first.
Blenheim was created as, and remains to this day, both an enormous war memorial and a private home.
When you enter the Blenheim Palace grounds from the streets of Woodstock you go through a triumphal arch gateway that was commissioned by John Churchill’s wife, first Duchess, Sarah Churchill. The gateway is a memorial to her husband and was built about 20 or so years after his all too early death. She really wanted us to remember him, so she commissioned memorials for future generations of visitors.
The inscription on the top (of the side facing the town of Woodstock) reads: “This gate was built the year after the death of the most illustrious John, Duke of Marlborough, by order of Sarah his most beloved wife, to whom he left the sole direction of the many things that remained unfinished of this fabric. The services of this great man to his country the pillar will tell you which the Duchess has erected for a lasting monument of his glory and her affection to him. 1723”.
The “pillar” Sarah referenced in the gate inscription is a large triumphal column she had built a good distance away from, but directly in line with the front entrance of Blenheim Palace itself. It resembles Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square. It too serves notice of the great service to England done by the first Duke. He stands on top, clad in classic Roman garb (all the rage in memorials to deceased leaders of the time). Here are a few of my shots of the pillar...
In walking back from the pillar to the palace there are many beautiful scenes. Below is my very raw shot (taken late the second day we spent there) on a walk back from the pillar. This became my reference for my oil painting of the great bridge with the palace off in the distance. The design and construction of the great bridge, and how it dovetailed with the rest of Blenheim park is a story for another post but, one can find many pleasing compositions to capture in this particular part of the grounds. I could almost not wait to get back home to paint it!
European politics and foreign relations being what they were, it was a big deal for the English to defeat the French. The British monarchy were great for pounding their chests in the wake of their victories, and Blenheim Palace is somewhat about that too. The image below shows an example - a sculptural detail on top of a double column in the main courtyard at Blenheim. A close look shows that the Lion, (symbol of England) is mauling and about to devour a cockerel bird (symbol of France at the time).
From this position, if you turn to your right, you see the main body of Blenheim Palace. It is similar to standing in front of the Vatican, in that the main structure sits in front of you, and you are hugged by two wings on each side.
Blenheim continues to be used as a backdrop for many films and television series. My favorites being an episode of Lewis, and of course the very last scene in the series finale of Endeavour (on PBS and Prime here in the states). A fantastic and fitting final scene to that great series!
When you go into the main entrance of Blenheim Palace you find yourself in a beautiful open space which establishes the awesome surroundings and splendor of the interior. Original and reproduced, captured French battle standards of the vanquished French armies are displayed in various rooms.
Aside from marveling at the fact that for centuries this entire place was a private residence, the great thing about seeing the interior of a place like Blenheim Palace is the ability to see a private collection of fine art. Pieces that you will almost never see in public museums. Art that has been in a family for many generations and remains in situ always seems extra special to me.
In a section off to the right of the main hall hangs an impressively huge oil painting of the first Duke, John Churchill and his family. Sitting on a table in front of the painting is a beautiful silver sculpture.
The sculpture is actually a dining table centerpiece that was used in many formal dinners hosted by the various Marlboroughs throughout the centuries. It depicts the moment a victorious General John Churchill sends what is known as his “Blenheim dispatch”. Basically after leading the British to victory in the battle of Blenheim, in Germany, he takes a moment to write to his wife Sarah, saying something like “… tell the Queen she has had a great victory at Blenheim.” Below are a couple details of the sculpture. This scene is immortalized throughout Blenheim Palace in paintings, sculptures, and tapestries.
The interior of Blenheim palace is as beautiful as the countryside surrounding it. One of my favorite rooms is the red drawing room.
In this opulent room hangs a portrait by one of my favorite artists of all time, John Singer Sargent. It depicts the dour 9th Duke of Marlborough and his not so loving bride, the multi-million dollar American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, along with their children (the heir and the spare).
John Singer Sargent was such a sublime talent that his gentrified sitters allowed him to depict them however he pleased. In this painting Sargent cunningly puts the 9th Duke a step down giving us the impression that if he were to step up, he would be the same height as the lovely Duchess.
In reality, she was much taller than he was. It was probably fairly radical in those days to depict the lady above the gentleman in a formal portrait like this, but Sargent was given the freedom to do it. He was a master of composition along with every other aspect painting.
By the way, many people think that the popular Downton Abbey series was based on the real life family at Highclere castle. While Highclere was the location used (and has been cashing in on that), the actual characters and story Julian Fellowes created were inspired by the late 19th century families at Blenheim, especially Consuelo Vanderbilt. Anyway, the red drawing room is just one of many amazing rooms holding treasures to marvel at while on a visit to Blenheim. I’ll share other locations in a future post.
Historic sites like Blenheim are just one reason I love to visit the U.K. If you geek out on British history and enjoy exploring great British houses as much as I do, maybe check out Julie Montagu’s YouTube channel “American Viscountess”. I recently saw on her Instagram that she will be doing an episode on Blenheim Palace very soon. Cheers!
