Woodstock - Blenheim Palace

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and colonnades lead to the side wings with their large courtyards, through which the visitor makes his way to the vast courtyard in front of the main building. From here it is possible to walk directly into the gardens with their French Roccoco borders and splendid old trees which form part of the English landscaped park created by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Alternatively the visitor can lose himself among the 200 rooms of the palace itself. Of particular interest are the monumental Great Hall with its painted ceiling (1716) by James Thornhill depicting the Battle of Blenheim, the room commemorating Sir Winston Churchill, the state rooms in all their Baroque splendor with their numerous hanging tapestries (18th century) depicting battle scenes, elegant pieces of furniture and large numbers of portraits by such masters as van Dyck, Reynolds and Kneller, as well as salon creations by Laguerre. The palace chapel contains a grandiose tomb for the first Duke of Marlborough, his wife and children.

There are water, Italian and herb gardens as well as a butterfly house and a maze.