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Mr John Edwards gave a very interesting talk, illustrated by slides, on the Duke of Marlborough's Blenheim Palace.
The palace covers some seven acres and is situated on the site of the old royal hunting park at Woodstock which was given to John Churchill, the 1st Duke, in recognition of his successful military campaigns at the end of the 17th Century and beginning of the 18th. The cost of the building was covered by money from a grateful government and people. Built entirely of Oxfordshire limestone the stone was all quarried within some 20 miles of the site.
We were taken on a tour of the public rooms through the slides with expert explanations of the content, decoration etc. with occasional historical stories relating to various periods and features. The great tapestries depicting Churchill's victories were explained as some being straight records of an event while others are montages of several events which did not all happen at the same time.
Me Edwards also explained the linking of the Spencer name with that of the Churchill's. Although the first Duke and Sarah had two sons as well several daughters both died at an early date and so Queen Anne made Henrietta, the eldest daughter, the heir and Duchess in her own right so that the title stayed through the Churchill line. With a marriage to a Spencer the family name changed and so the fifth duke's name was changed by Act of Parliament to Spencer-Churchill to re-establish original name within the dynasty.
The gardens have been changed at different times with the original formal, French influenced, layouts changed by Capability Brown to the natural look which he favoured. Even the great courtyard in front of the front doors having been grassed over. While most of Brown's layouts have survived the courtyard has been restored and the water gardens were put in towards the end of the the Nineteenth Century.
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