Visiting

Blenheim Palace is a true masterpiece of 18th Century Baroque architecture and delivers an awe-inspiring experience for visitors. 

From the remarkable Great Hall to the beautifully intricate State Rooms, the Palace balances delicate detail with ambitious architecture on the grandest scale. 

Home to the 12th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace is a World Heritage Site and is famed as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. 

Set in over 2,000 acres of ‘Capability’ Brown landscaped parkland and designed by Vanbrugh in the Baroque style, it was financed by Queen Anne, on behalf of a grateful nation, following the first Duke of Marlborough’s triumph over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession. 

Formal Gardens 

The Formal Gardens surround the Palace, and they include the majestic Water Terraces, the Duke’s Private Italian Garden, the tranquil Secret Garden with all its hidden treasures, the Churchill Memorial Garden and the beautifully delicate Rose Garden. 

Walled Gardens 

Families love to take Winston the Miniature Train from the Palace for a little adventure in our Walled Garden, perfect for all the family. 

Here families can explore the Butterfly House, home to a range of butterfly species from all over the world.

The Marlborough maze is two miles in length and made up of hundreds of yew trees in a design inspired by the history of Blenheim Palace. The maze can provide hours of fun, depending on how long it takes you to find your way out! 

Sir Winston Churchill 

Blenheim Palace is the birthplace of one of Britain’s most famous leaders, Sir Winston Churchill and it was his father who described the vista on entering the Estate from the village of Woodstock as the ‘finest view in England’. 

Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in 1874, spent much of his childhood there, and proposed to his beloved wife Clementine in the Temple of Diana in 1908 during a summer downpour. 

Winston’s love of Blenheim Palace remained to his dying day. Following his state funeral in 1965 he was buried beside his parents in the cemetery of St Martin’s Church in Bladon.