Blenheim Palace Garden

An eighteenth century house and park with a nineteenth century garden. The palace, designed by Vanbrugh c1705, was the nation's reward to the first Duke of Marlborough for his victories over Louis XIV. Henry Wise designed the garden, in an Anglo-Dutch Baroque manner with a military cast. It had mock fortifications and regimented parterres. The first Duke died in 1722. During the 1720s his wife, Sarah, canalised the River Glyme and had a triumphal bridge errected. In 1764, the 4th Duke commissioned Lancelot Brown, then at the apogee of his fame. Brown transformed the park by making the canal into a serpentine lake. He also naturalised the woods, designed a cascade and placed clumps in strategic positions. During the 1930s, the 9th Duke replanted a 'military' avenue east of the palace and commissioned Achille Duchêne to design a fine water parterre, west of the palace.

Head Gardener's Comment

A visit to Blenheim Palace offers an unforgettable experience. It’s a chance to share the splendours of Baroque architecture designed in the 1700s by Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor, to wonder at the collections of art, tapestry and antiques, and to explore the Park and Gardens and discover landscapes crafted by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown to form magnificent vistas of English countryside.
If you are visiting Blenheim Palace for the first time, we have 300 years of history and 2000 acres of beautiful landscapes for you to discover. With just a single day, you can enjoy guided tours of the Palace, home to the Dukes of Marlborough and the greatest Briton, Sir Winston Churchill. You will find exhibits that tell the story of their lives, and the lives of those who have run the Palace and Estate for three centuries, through diaries, artefacts, photographs and film.

Our annual pass will give you more time for our rich history to unfold, and to appreciate the natural delights of the changing seasons as they play across the glorious parkland that, together with the Palace, make this a World Heritage Site.

With a rich variety of cultural highlights spanning the calendar, you can indulge in our programme of special events; from medieval jousting displays, Christmas Lights, big stage music Nocturnes and contemporary art installations.