Blenheim Palace stately home Woodstock Oxfordshire England Duke of Marlborough UNESCO World Heritage Site Bridge Lake River UK
Blenheim Palace is a monumental stately home situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1724. UNESCO recognised the palace as a World Heritage Site in 1987. Vanbrugh planned Blenheim in perspective, that is to be best viewed from a distance. As the site covers some seven acres (28,000 m²) this is also a necessity. Close to, and square on, the facades can appear daunting, or weighed down by too much stone and ornamentation. The plan of Blenheim Palace is basically that of a large central rectangular block (see plan), containing behind the southern facade the principal state apartments. On the east side are the suites of private apartments of the Duke and Duchess, on the west along the entire length is the long gallery originally conceived as a picture gallery. The central block is flanked by two further service blocks around square courtyards (not shown in the plan). The east court contains the kitchens, laundry, and other domestic offices, the west court adjacent to the chapel the stables and indoor riding school. The three blocks together form the "Great Court" designed to overpower the visitor arriving at the palace. Pilasters and pillars abound, while from the roofs, themselves resembling those of a small town, great statues in the renaissance manner of St Peter's in Rome gaze down on the visitor below, who is rendered inconsequential. Other assorted statuary in the guise of martial trophies, and the English lion devouring a French cock, also decorate the lower roofs. Many of these are by such masters as Grinling Gibbons.
Size: 3627px × 2520px
Photo credit: © SOTK2011 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: -fashioned, 1800, 19th, 2d, academic, age, aged, ancient, antiquarian, antique, antiquity, architect, architectural, architecture, art, artistic, black, blenheim, book, building, buildings, bw, bygone, castle, century, château, classical, copy, cut, cut-, design, dot, dots, drawing, edifice, embossed, empire, england, estate, europe, expression, facade, fascia, figure, formal, front, garden, grand, graphic, halftone, hall, hand, heritage, historic, historical, history, home, house, illustrated, illustration, image, landmark, landscaped, manor, mansion, mason, masonry, master, monotone, monument, national, nineteenth, notable, obscure, obsolete, olden, original, oxfordshire, palace, paper, period, photo, photograph, pictorial, picture, portrait, pre, press, print, printed, printing, publication, publicity, rare, real, realism, realistic, reference, relief, replica, represent, representation, repro, reproduce, reproduction, reprographic, retro, romantic, screen, sculpted, social, standard, stately, steel, stone, structure, studio, style, teach, technique, time, title, tool, topic, topical, tract, unusual, victoria, victorian, vintage, white
