Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, is the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. It is the home to the current 12th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and was also the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Blenheim Palace was presented by Queen Anne on behalf of a grateful English nation to John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, in recognition of his victory in 1704 over French King Louis XIV at Blenheim in Bavaria. The Blenheim Tapestry shows the moment the French commander surrendered to that first Duke of Marlborough — absolutely dashing on his white horse with the carnage of war in the background. The palace was designed by John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor in the nascent albeit eclectic and short-lived English Baroque Architectural style and was built between 1705 and 1722. The magnificent structure sits majestically amidst a 2,100-acre undulating landscape sculpted from 1761 onwards to the designs of Lancelot "