Kauffman Commentary

Blenheim Palace was built because of the victory over the French at the Battle of Blenheim. This gave the Queen a reason to give the land and the money to John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, who led the battle. There were several hiccups along the way. His wife Sarah didn’t like the architect and they fell out of favor with the Queen for a few years, but finally the palace was completed. This palace was not bombed during WWII, Hitler wanted to keep it for himself after the war, so they left it alone.

Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace November 30, 1864. His parents were there visiting and his mother went into labor. His Grandfather was the 7th Duke of Marlborough. His mother (Jennie) came from a wealthy family in the United States. Winston loved the Palace and stayed there off and on throughout his early life. He proposed to Clementine, his wife at the Palace.

Several brides from the United States married into the family including a Vanderbilt. Consuelo Vanderbilt used her money to finish much needed repairs and upgrades to the Palace.

Winston Churchill is the only person outside the Royal family to have a state funeral. He died in 1965 and is actually buried at a small church a short distance from Blenheim Palace. His wife and children are also buried there.

Oxford is 15 minutes from the Palace. We had thought it would be a great place to go, but quickly found it just wasn’t worth the time. We ate at a pub that was built in 1606 and had very good roasted tomato soup. That was pretty much the highlight. The colleges are very separated and each one costs about 10 dollars to just go into the courtyard, which was nothing super. There is lots of commercial tourist junk between. Nothing like the colleges in the US.

Since we didn’t take long in Oxford, that left time to see a small village where they filmed parts of Downton Abbey.  The church scenes, carnival, hospital, school and some of the streets were in the series and movies.

Just a short stop down the road is the town of Lovell. It started with the Minister Lovell who was a huge landowner in the 15th century. He built a huge manor house. Most of this manor has fallen and is not anywhere near the glorious place it was from the 15th to 18th centuries. Minister Lovell fell out of favor with the King because he would not fight for his country and this was the beginning of his downfall.  The site is just beautiful, with a running stream and church just adjacent to the manor. 

For dinner this evening we ate in the Atrium restaurant at the manor. It was a 10 course meal and I liked almost everything except the french pigeon (of course Bryan thought it was good).