Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace

synonym

Churchill Manor (Churchill's garden) generally refers to Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace, also known as Churchill manor, is the residence of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Winston Churchill. It is the only non religious and non royal building with the title of "Palace" in Britain. It is also a classic work of British gardens. Located in Woodstock, Oxford, the palace was built by John van Buhler. It integrates rural scenery, gardens and courtyards, showing outstanding style. In 1987, the official residence was listed as a world cultural heritage site.

On September 14, 2019, a 1 million pound 18K pure gold toilet in Blenheim Palace was stolen.

Development history

The name Blenheim Palace originated from a decisive war on the North Bank of the Danube on August 13, 1704. Near the North Bank of the Danube is a small village called Blenheim, where the French leader Marshall Talal once built a defense line. It is also here that the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, defeated the army of Louis XIV and won a great League victory, thus saving Europe under French rule. In recognition of John Churchill's achievements in protecting Holland and Austria and preventing French invasion, the generous Queen Anne conferred the royal honor of "Woodstock" and built "Blenheim Palace" for him. The building began construction in 1705, with inscriptions on the east gate, which read as follows: under the lucky light of the generous monarch, the house was built for the Duke of John Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Jennings, and was built by Mr. John van Buhler from 1705 to 1722. The royal title of "Woodstock" and the building were given by her majesty Anne and confirmed by the Council.

When the Duke of Marlborough continued to bring good news to his queen across the sea, his hostile forces tried every means to destroy the Queen's love for him. As a result, the funding for his building of Blenheim Palace was not in place, leaving them in arrears with stonecutters, sculptors and other architects, including wembler, for a total of 45000. In 1712, all work on the building of Blenheim Palace was forced to stop. After the death of Queen Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough negotiated with the unpaid craftsmen and supporters to use the Duke's own money to complete the construction of the palace.

On August 13, 1704, John Churchill defeated Louis XIV's army in Bavaria and won the battle of Blenheim. In order to reward him for his service, the king made him Duke of Marlborough and gave him the mansion. Blenheim Palace is a masterpiece of the famous architect John van Buhler from 1705 to 1722. The garden layout and architectural style here are to reflect the outstanding achievements of the Duke of Marlborough.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace on November 30, 1874. He is the grandson of the seventh generation of the Duke of Marlborough. He inherited the fine tradition of this distinguished family, played an outstanding military talent and spent a brilliant political career. Winston Churchill once wrote a biography of his family. He was an officer very early, and successfully defended Britain in the Second World War. Later, he became British Prime Minister, so he became famous in history.

When the Duke chose the mansion, he first saw a wide river valley, named grime, which formed a swamp with other tributaries. Architect John van Buhler advocated the construction of a large arch bridge on the river. The arch width of the main bridge is 31 meters. Construction began in 1708, but was not completed because of the high cost. The Duchess opposed the arched bridge over the river, so she just built an ordinary bridge to connect Blenheim Palace with the ranch.

The garden of this official residence must be harmonious with the surrounding natural landscape. In 1764, the Marlborough family entrusted the construction of Blenheim Palace to the famous landscape architect Lancelot brown. Brown believes that landscape design should be integrated with the natural scenery, and should not leave traces of artificial decoration. He built a dam on the grime River, forming a large area of water, and under the bridge became two lakes with curved edges.

The Duke of Marlborough died in 1727, five years after his death, the construction of the official residence was completed. The Duke's memorial hall is a landmark of Blenheim Palace. There are small towers and bell towers on the roof of the memorial hall. The four stone pillars supporting the gate of the Duke's memorial hall are called the Corinthian stone pillars, which have the moral of praising the merits of Marlborough. The main body of the building was connected with stone columns instead of walls. At the top of the memorial hall is a statue of a lion fighting with a rooster, which symbolizes the power of victory.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the ninth generation of the Duke of Marlborough rebuilt the formal gardens on the East and west sides of the official residence, which were abandoned by brown and replaced by lawns. The ninth generation of Dukes invited the most famous French landscape architect at that time, Asher diechener, to redesign these gardens. Diechener once designed and built the kurangsi water country in esson, France. The Duke wanted to restore the original appearance of the lake, but dishina only built a strange pool here.

When the ninth Duke of Marlborough visited Italy, he once praised Bernini, a famous architect and sculptor. Bernini transformed the Cathedral of St. Pierre in Rome into the famous palace of Barberini, which is famous in Europe. At that time, the French called Bernini "Knight", Louis XIV also asked him to go to France to rebuild the Louvre. In order to satisfy the Duke's wish, dishina had to design the garden of Blenheim Palace according to Bernini's way. He imitated the model of Bernini's "new square" in Rome, and built a small water fountain in the middle of the pond.

In England, the garden which imitates the natural scenery is rarely decorated with sculptures, and the Blenheim Palace is a French baroque style building, where sculptures can be seen everywhere. Looking down from the height of the house, the garden layout is orderly, with a panoramic view of the plants, passageways and decorations. The statues scattered in every corner are a kind of symbol. These statues symbolize the bravery and tenacity of the army and the glory of the soldiers, because this official residence was built in memory of the British army. On the west side of Blenheim Palace, the overall layout of the garden is gorgeous. In the distance, there is a garden designed by brown to reflect the natural scenery of England. On the lake side, there is an Italian terraced garden designed by dishina, which also reflects the French geometric garden style.

On the west side of the official residence, there is also a "water garden" built on the steps, which was built by the architect van Buhler in the 18th century, with a total of 13 parts. There are fountains in the middle and four corners of the waterscape garden, with poplars, statues and decorative walls scattered in the waterscape garden. The 13 fountain pools form a small stepped waterfall and flow into the middle of the waterscape. The water column stirs up layers of spray, which is full of vitality. These gardens are built to further beautify the environment of high buildings, and the colorful flowers are pleasing to the eye. The scattered boxwood has replaced the flowers, just like the relief on the colorful sand. The pool is surrounded by white stones, which makes the outline of boxwood very clear. The use of water makes the garden full of motion, and also reflects the power of human invention and creation.

architectural style

The most amazing part of the grand hall is the ceiling painted by James Thornhill in 1716: unfolding in the palace of Blenheim in the order of war, showing the victory of Marlborough. The long arched corridor extends to the north and south sides of the hall, which is a typical work of John van Buhler. Stairs, for example, are hidden by the east wall of the arcade.

In the ballroom, tables are set with silver plated Minton cutlery. The center of the silver object, placed on an isolated table, shows the Duke of Marlborough still riding on horseback after his victory in the battle of Blenheim. The marble door made by greenling Gibbons is decorated with the double headed eagle badge of the Duke of Marlborough as the prince of the Roman Empire.

Originally designed as a gallery, the 55 meter long room shows some of the best whitewashed stucco decorations in the palace. There is a statue of Queen Anne in the room. Perhaps the most striking part of the room is the magnificent Willis organ at the north end. Marble statues of Marlborough and Queen Anne are located here.

World Cultural Heritage

Name of heritage: Blenheim Palace

Selected time: 1987

Selection criteria: Cultural Heritage (II) (IV)

Location: N51 50 31 w01 21 41

Estate number: 425

Heritage Description:

Blenheim Palace is a duchy built by Queen Anne of England to reward John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, who defeated the invading forces of France and Bavaria in 1704. Drawing inspiration from all aspects, Blenheim Palace is the only British palace that is neither Royal nor religious

Chinese PinYin : Qiu Ji Er Zhuang Yuan