In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Blenheim Park like this:
BLENHEIM PARK, an extra-parochial tract, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, in Woodstock district, Oxford; on the river Glyme and on Akeman-street, immediately W of Woodstock. Acres, 2,940. Real property, £2,400. Pop., 118. Houses, 22. This was a royal demesne, containing the ancient palace of Woodstock; was given to the great Duke of Marlborough, along with the parliamentary grant of £500,000 for decorating the grounds and building a mansion; and took its present name from his victory of Blenheim on the Danube on 2 Aug. ...
170 4. The park is entered from Woodstock by a triumphal arch; it has much diversity of surface, and was laid out by "Capability Brown;" it abounds with fine old trees, and displays groups of wood so arranged as to represent the battle of Blenheim; and it contains a lake of 260 acres, spanned by a fine three-arched bridge,-a column 134 feet high, surmounted by a colossal statue of the great Duke,-a curious old house, called High Lodge, once inhabited by the profligate Earl of Rochester, as ranger of the park,-a spring, called Rosamund's Well, traditionally said to have supplied the bath of the "Fair Rosamund" during her residence in the "Bower, "-and traces of Akeman-street, together with spots in which remains of Roman buildings have been found. The gardens possess great wealth of plants; and contain the Temple of Health, in memory of George III.,-the Cascade, artificially constructed, but looking entirely natural,-the Fountain, modelled after that of the Piazza Navona at Rome,-and some fine specimens of statuary and architecture, modelled after the antique. The mansion was founded in 1705, but not completed till after the great Duke's death. It was designed by Vanbrugh, and is esteemed his master-piece; and it cost about £300,000. It consists of a centre and two wings, connected by colonnades; forms three sides of a square, enclosing a court; measures 384 feet along the front; and is in the Grecian style, faulty and very heavy; yet shows such skilful combination of porticoes, colonnades, and towers as to look highly imposing. The chief apartments are the hall, 67 feet high, with ceiling allegorically representing the battle of Blenheim; the great dining-room, thick with pictures by Rubens and Vandyke: the saloon, with walls and ceiling decorated by La Guerre: the library, 183 feet long, with marble statue of Queen Anne by Rysbrach; and the chapel, with marble monument of the great Duke and his Duchess by Rysbrach, and with a Lombard pulpit in Derbyshire spar. The collection of paintings and of objects of vertu is one of the largest and choicest in Britain; insomuch that Waaggen says, "If nothing were to be seen in England but Blenheim, with its park and treasures of art, there would be no reason to repent the journey to this country."
Blenheim Park through time
Blenheim Park is now part of West Oxfordshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how West Oxfordshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Blenheim Park itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Blenheim Park in West Oxfordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/9358
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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