Blenheim Palace and the Parkland Around It

Blenheim sits at the edge of Woodstock, about ninety minutes from central London, and the approach is deliberately theatrical: you come through an arch and the whole thing — palace, lake, bridge, park — appears at once. Vanbrugh built it as a monument rather than a home, and it reads that way. The State Rooms take a good two hours if you look properly, and the long library alone justifies the drive.

Outside is where the day expands. Capability Brown flooded the valley in the 1760s to make the Great Lake, and in doing so half-submerged Vanbrugh's Grand Bridge, which is why it looks the way it does. Two thousand acres of parkland surround it. The Formal Gardens, the Water Terraces and the walled Rose Garden sit to the west of the house and are a completely separate pleasure from the interiors.

Churchill was born at Blenheim and is buried at Bladon, in the village churchyard two miles away, in a grave that is startlingly modest given everything else about the day. It takes ten minutes to visit and most people are glad they did. Woodstock itself, just outside the gates, is a handsome stone town with good places to eat and a very civilised place to end an afternoon.

How we work: we provide the car and the chauffeur, nothing more and nothing implied. Your chauffeur is not a licensed guide and will not accompany you around the house. Palace admission is arranged by you and the grounds close earlier in winter, so we will advise on a departure time that gives you enough daylight. A qualified guide can be arranged to travel with you if you would like one.