Here John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, won a great allied victory over the forces of Louis XIV, thus saving Europe from French domination.
The name Blenheim derives from a decisive battle that took place on the 13th August 1704 on the north bank of the river Danube, near a small village called Blindheim or Blenheim (in Bavaria), where the French leader, Marshall Tallard, completely lost an army of 27,000 soldiers.
In reward for his services in defending Holland and Austria from invasion by the French, a grateful Queen Anne granted to Marlborough the Royal Manor of Woodstock and signified that she would build him, at her own expense, a house to be called Blenheim.
Building began in 1705, and there is an inscription on the East Gate that declares that:
“Under the auspices of a munificent sovereign this house was built for John Duke of Marlborough, and his Duchess Sarah, by Sir J Vanbrugh between the years 1705 and 1722.
And this Royal manor of Woodstock, together with a grant of £240,000, towards the building of Blenheim was given by Her Majesty Queen Anne and confirmed by Act of Parliament…”
While the Duke continued to give his Queen and country victory after victory overseas, his absence gave others the chance to hatch a plot designed to topple him from the Queen’s favour. As a result, the money which had been promised to him for building Blenheim Palace didn’t arrive, leaving the Duke owing £45,000 to masons, carvers and others, including Vanbrugh the architect.
In the summer of 1712 all work on Blenheim Palace ceased. Following the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough negotiated with the unpaid artisans and suppliers alike and the Palace was completed at their own expense.
Portraits in gallery: the ancestors of Winston Churchill
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