page_title: Blenheim Palace
section_title: Architect
hierarchical_section_title: Blenheim Palace / Architect
caption_attribution_description: English: Blenheim Palace from the Water Terraces, a World Heritage Site. This place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as Blenheim Palace. العربية&#160;| asturianu&#160;| беларуская&#160;| беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎&#160;| বাংলা&#160;| català&#160;| čeština&#160;| dansk&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| español&#160;| euskara&#160;| فارسی&#160;| français&#160;| עברית&#160;| hrvatski&#160;| magyar&#160;| bahasa Indonesia&#160;| italiano&#160;| 日本語&#160;| 한국어&#160;| latviešu&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| مازِرونی&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| polski&#160;| português&#160;| português do Brasil&#160;| română&#160;| русский&#160;| sicilianu&#160;| slovenčina&#160;| slovenščina&#160;| Türkçe&#160;| українська&#160;| Tiếng Việt&#160;| 中文&#160;| 中文（中国大陆）‎&#160;| 中文（简体）‎&#160;| 中文（繁體）‎&#160;| 中文（台灣）‎&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and 1722, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
  The palace is named for the 1704 Battle of Blenheim, and thus ultimately after Blindheim in Bavaria. It was originally intended to be a reward to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough for his military triumphs against the French and Bavarians in the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the Battle of Blenheim. The land was given as a gift, and construction began in 1705, with some financial support from Queen Anne. The project soon became the subject of political infighting, with the Crown cancelling further financial support in 1712, Marlborough's three-year voluntary exile to the Continent, the fall from influence of his duchy and lasting damage to the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh.
context_section_description: The architect selected for the ambitious project was a controversial one. The Duchess was known to favour Sir Christopher Wren, famous for St Paul's Cathedral and many other national buildings. The Duke however, following a chance meeting at a playhouse, is said to have commissioned Sir John Vanbrugh there and then. Vanbrugh, a popular dramatist, was an untrained architect, who usually worked in conjunction with the trained and practical Nicholas Hawksmoor. The duo had recently completed the first stages of the Baroque Castle Howard. This huge Yorkshire mansion was one of England's first houses in the flamboyant European Baroque style. The success of Castle Howard led Marlborough to commission something similar at Woodstock.
  Blenheim, however, was not to provide Vanbrugh with the architectural plaudits he imagined it would. The fight over funding led to accusations of extravagance and impracticality of design, many of these charges levelled by the Whig factions in power. He found no defender in the Duchess of Marlborough. Having been foiled in her wish to employ Wren, she levelled criticism at Vanbrugh on every level, from design to taste. In part their problems arose from what was demanded of the architect. The nation (which was then assumed, by both architect and owners, to be paying the bills) wanted a monument, but the Duchess wanted not only a fitting tribute to her husband but also a comfortable home, two requirements that were not compatible in 18th-century architecture. Finally, in the early days of the building the Duke was frequently away on his military campaigns, and it was left to the Duchess to negotiate with Vanbrugh. More aware than her husband of the precarious state of the financial aid they were receiving, she criticised Vanbrugh's grandiose ideas for their extravagance.
  Following their final altercation, Vanbrugh was banned from the site. In 1719, whilst the Duchess was away, Vanbrugh viewed the palace in secret. However, when his wife visited the completed Blenheim as a member of the viewing public in 1725, the Duchess refused his wife admission even to enter the park.
  Vanbrugh's severe massed Baroque used at Blenheim never truly caught the public imagination, and was quickly superseded by the revival of the Palladian style. Vanbrugh's reputation was irreparably damaged, and he received no further truly great public commissions. For his final design, Seaton Delaval Hall, which was hailed as his masterpiece, he used a refined version of the Baroque employed at Blenheim. He died shortly before its completion.
caption: Blenheim Palace ("John Vanbrugh's castle air"): west facade showing the unique severe towering stone belvederes ornamenting the skyline
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