As Robyn and I set off intrepidly from the Cotswolds to London, we had to go by Blenheim. It was built by the Duke of Marborough in the early eighteenth century from lands (and some funds) from a grateful Queen Anne (and later George I) to reward his military victory at Blenheim. It is stunningly beautiful and huge. I had forgotten of course that Winston Churchill had been born there. The Marlboroughs, Churchills, and Spencers are interwoven in ways only the British can understand. It is impossible to imagine being born there in a room just off the main huge entryway, but there he was. The interior was refurbished in the 19th century by American money. Consuelo Vanderbilt was auctioned off by her evil mother to the 9th Duke of Marlborough. Theirs was not a great marriage (perhaps the fact that she reportedly sobbed throughout the ceremony in New York didn't get it off to a good start). But Consuelo brought a large settlement to the marriage, produced an heir and a spare, and was quite accepted in British society--being 6 feet tall, beautiful and brillant had to help.
The main point about the landscape (apart from the formal gardens) is the Capabilty Brown design of the two lakes. It's almost impossible to capture with a little camera, but you can see what the sweep of green lawn, lakes and beautiful trees can be--if of course you have a palace to go with it.
End note on Consuelo--after she and the Duke had gone their separate ways, she married and French balloonist and settled in France. She was always quite close to Winston, and he first took up painting at her estate in France. She died in Southampton, NY, in 1964.
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