Blenheim Palace

I have been lying low for a couple of months and not making any "pleasure trips" after the one to Southampton, Salisbury and Stonehenge. The weather was also growing cold. Meanwhile, I ran into an old colleague of mine at Reading station (railway, not police mind you!). We had worked together in Soft Systems, Kochi and I was surprised to see him here, of all the places. It also turned out that he had been in Bangalore all along, working for HCL and we never ran into each other there. He is here on an assignment for 2 months. When we met, I only remembered that he had a rather curious name, but couldn't recollect what it was. It was Binju (that being his name) who suggested that we go to Blenheim Palace last weekend, and off we went on Saturday, 4th November.

Blenheim Palace is in Woodstock, near Oxford. In reward for his services in defending Holland and Austria from invasion by the French, a grateful Queen Anne granted to John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, the Royal Manor of Woodstock and signified that she would build him, at her own expense, a house to be called Blenheim. Conceived in 1705 by Sir John Vanbrugh and finished in 1722, it is a masterpiece in English Baroque architecture. Set in 2100 acres of landscaped parkland, the palace is surrounded by sweeping lawns and formal gardens. As in most of the palaces of England, the State Rooms of this one too are graced with priceless portraits, exquisite porcelain and magnificent tapestries plundered from conquered lands. Many items have been "gifted" and some specially commissioned by the Dukes. Nothing much from India though, as it was still not a "jewel in the British Crown" when the earlier dukes of Marlborough went about warring on behalf of The Crown. The palace is also famed as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. The 11th Duke of Marlborough currently lives here. The palace and park was created a World Heritage Site in 1987. As it grows dark here too soon these days, we could not go over the palace grounds entirely. You can see my entire Blenheim Album in Galleria.

This post is delayed as the server hosting the Galleria was down for maintenance. Also, the Southampton/Stonehenge album is indefinitely delayed as the photos are locked up in my camera which is now with Saritha.