Blenheim Palace Grounds
This view is taken from in front of Blenheim Palace, looking just west of north across the Queen Pool towards the Woodstock Gate visible in the distance.
Thanks to the inspired work of 'Capability' Brown there will be a lasting legacy at Blenheim Palace for its park landscape. It was his approach to present a landscape that appeared natural but was in fact 'nature contrived' that helped The Palace gain World Heritage Site status in 1987. The landscape setting he devised in the 1760s provided such a sublime form of beauty and harmony that every generation of the Marlborough family has endeavoured to preserve it.
The park delivers beauty across all seasons; see lawns brimming with daffodils in spring, the greens of the trees transforming into a myriad of warm tones from summer to autumn, and the twinkling blanket of frost and mist rising from the lake in winter.
When the 1st Duke of Marlborough and his architect, John Vanbrugh, surveyed Queen Anne's gift of Woodstock Park, they saw an awkward valley of marshland. Vanbrugh reimagined this marsh as ornamental water - crossed by the “finest bridge in Europe”.
The Duke duly approved Vanbrugh’s design, and building of The Grand Bridge began in 1708. The main arch was eventually keyed in 1710, measuring 31m wide and containing more than 30 rooms.
It proved a stunning addition to Blenheim Palace – particularly when Capability Brown built a dam and cascade near Bladon, allowing the River Glyme to flow through the lower parts of the bridge.
The resulting ‘natural’ lakes on either side gave purpose to Vanbrugh’s heroic structure, prompting Sir Sacheverell Sitwell to remark: “The lake at Blenheim is the one great argument of the landscape gardener. There is nothing finer in Europe”. - from Wikipedia
Blenheim Palace Grounds
This view is taken from in front of Blenheim Palace, looking just west of north across the Queen Pool towards the Woodstock Gate visible in the distance.
Thanks to the inspired work of 'Capability' Brown there will be a lasting legacy at Blenheim Palace for its park landscape. It was his approach to present a landscape that appeared natural but was in fact 'nature contrived' that helped The Palace gain World Heritage Site status in 1987. The landscape setting he devised in the 1760s provided such a sublime form of beauty and harmony that every generation of the Marlborough family has endeavoured to preserve it.
The park delivers beauty across all seasons; see lawns brimming with daffodils in spring, the greens of the trees transforming into a myriad of warm tones from summer to autumn, and the twinkling blanket of frost and mist rising from the lake in winter.
When the 1st Duke of Marlborough and his architect, John Vanbrugh, surveyed Queen Anne's gift of Woodstock Park, they saw an awkward valley of marshland. Vanbrugh reimagined this marsh as ornamental water - crossed by the “finest bridge in Europe”.
The Duke duly approved Vanbrugh’s design, and building of The Grand Bridge began in 1708. The main arch was eventually keyed in 1710, measuring 31m wide and containing more than 30 rooms.
It proved a stunning addition to Blenheim Palace – particularly when Capability Brown built a dam and cascade near Bladon, allowing the River Glyme to flow through the lower parts of the bridge.
The resulting ‘natural’ lakes on either side gave purpose to Vanbrugh’s heroic structure, prompting Sir Sacheverell Sitwell to remark: “The lake at Blenheim is the one great argument of the landscape gardener. There is nothing finer in Europe”. - from Wikipedia