The charming town of Woodstock is well-known for having Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of the Churchill family. Henry I built a substantial park and hunting lodge here in the 12th century. It became a palace as the royals used it extensively and the town grew around it. Geoffrey Chaucer, the medieval author of The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Cri'seyde, lived here.
In 1704 the royal family presented Woodstock Manor to John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough. It was subsequently re-designed by John Vanbrugh and christened Blenheim Palace. Its beautiful 2000-acre park was landscaped by 'Capability' Brown. Enter the park through Nicholas Hawksmoor's Triumphal Arch, or the Woodstock Gate, to fully take in the beauty of the relationship between the palace and its grounds. On your tour enjoy the Column of Victory, the rose garden, the Butterfly House and the Marlborough maze. The palace itself is full of gilt and grandeur - Grinling Gibbons' carvings, Flemish tapestries and a fine collection of paintings.
In the Great Hall you'll discover the awesome ceiling painted by Sir James Thornhill and the extemely long Long Library.
The first duke and duchess are interred in the 1731 chapel.
The room of Sir Winston Churchill's birth now contains an exhibition devoted to his life.
The most famous of Woodstock's buildings is the 13th century Bear Hotel which is reputedly haunted by ghosts.
The Parish Church of St Mary Magdalen is topped by a classical tower of 1785.
In Park Street, Fletcher's House, originally built for a 17th-century merchant, now houses the Oxfordshire Museum, with fascinating galleries and exhibitions concerning Oxfordshire's history and traditions.
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