Blenheim Park

Blenheim Park, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, erected at the public expense in the reign of Queen Anne as a testimony of gratitude to the victor of Blenheim. The sum, £500,000, that was voted for the purpose did not suffice for the completion of the work. The royal estate of Woodstock, in which it stands, was granted at the same time. The building was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, and is a grand though heavy monument of his powers as an architect. The length of the principal front from wing to wing is 348 feet. The interior is proportionally magnificent, but its priceless collections of gems and paintings, and its library, were wholly or largely dispersed by auction between 1875 and 1886. Eleven of the pictures were offered to the nation for £350,000; amongst those acquired for the National Gallery was the Ansidei Madonna by Raphael, at a cost of £70,000. Among the objects of interest in the grounds are a triumphal arch, and a column 130 feet high, surmounted by a statue of Marlborough. An inscription on the pedestal, written by Bolingbroke, recites the public services of the hero. The park, 2700 acres in area and 12 miles in circuit, was laid out by 'Capability' Brown. Its trees are said to have been planted as the troops were ranged at Marlborough's victory; and a mighty bridge spans the rivulet Glyme, which then widens out into an artificial lake. See Marshall's History of Woodstock (Oxford, 1873).