blenheim palace | Life in the English Cotswolds

Woodstock, a small town in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, has a long history. The Domesday Book, a survey of England & Wales completed in 1086, describes it as a Royal Forest – a hunting preserve for nobility. Fifty years later the area was enclosed by a high wall, a shooting lodge built, and exotic animals, lions and leopards kept within. Just short of a century later, in 1179, King Henry II built Woodstock Palace and granted a Royal Charter that established a market on its boundary. From thereon, the town developed and prospered. The palace witnessed several important moments in English history including the imprisonment of the then Princess Elizabeth who became Queen Elizabeth the First, and later, it sheltered King James I who had fled London during a plague. By 1653 the Palace had been destroyed by the Roundheads (Parliamentarians) during the English Civil War.

*The original palace at Woodstock built by Henry II in 1179 [Source:Wikipedia]*

The ruins of the palace and its parkland were gifted by the nation to the 1st Duke of Marlborough in recognition of his military triumphs that climaxed with the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Blenheim Palace, for which Woodstock is now justly famed and visited annually by thousands from all over the world, was built in its place and, with over 180 rooms, it is one of the largest privately-owned houses in England. The birthplace (in 1874) and ancestral home of wartime leader, Sir Winston Churchill, the splendour and history of the Palace was recognised as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

*Blenheim Palace, one of the largest private houses in England*

With mixed financial fortunes over the centuries, the Palace has seen many changes both internally and externally. The parkland was much altered by the eighteenth-century landscape architect, Capability Brown. The River Glyme that runs through the park was dammed and the Great Lake formed, in the process part-drowning the enormous bridge designed by Vanbrugh. Incidentally, the river is the same one as the little winding river that flows in ‘our (now not so secret!) secret valley’ and used in the header of this blog.

*The dammed tiny River Glyme* *created the Great Lake at Blenheim Palace…*

*…in the process, the huge bridge designed by Vanbrugh was partly submerged*

Despite the centuries that have passed, the town still clusters outside the entrance to Blenheim Palace. Being so small (only 3,500 people live here), it is a great place to explore on foot – something that is missed by most visitors to the Palace who, if they enter the town at all, stay within the two shop-lined streets at its centre. Behind these lie the church and quaint, timbered houses.

*Ancient houses overhang the narrow streets of Woodstock*

*All the old house and cottages differ from one another in appearance*

Of course, it is the Palace that dominates Woodstock despite being barely visible from outside the Park. The entrance that cars and coaches enter by, is splendid enough, but doesn’t match the grandeur of the town gate. Just past the ‘tourist’ entrance (and so rarely noticed) are the splendid almshouses built in 1798 by Catherine, Duchess of Marlborough. A visit to the Woodstock Museum should be on everyone’s agenda too; it contains a dinosaur garden to keep the children happy.

*The gate by which visitors enter is grand enough but…*

*…it doesn’t match the splendour of the ‘town’ gate*

The town has several hotels and makes a good base to explore further afield; Oxford with its universities is only 15 miles away and there are numerous villages and National Trust properties and gardens to visit within the area. For keen hikers two long-distance trails, the Wychwood Way (36 miles) and Shakespeare’s Way (146 miles) pass through the town and, as in most of England, numerous public footpaths criss-cross the countryside where you can roam freely. Walking is one of the best ways to see the Cotswolds and it is great exercise too. All the footpaths connect with one another so you can easily take shorter walks but, if you have the time, it is possible to walk from one end of England to the other!

*The almshouses in Woodstock built in 1798*

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[If you would like specific details of any aspect of staying locally and/or walking routes, places to visit, etc please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer your queries]

Sources:
Wikipedia The Long Distance Walkers Association Cotswolds.info The Making of the English Landscape, W G Hoskins

One of the perks of getting older is retirement or, in my case, semi-retirement. Suddenly, I no longer need to keep checking my watch to see if I have enough time to do things without racing onto something or somewhere else. It has given me time to re-visit some of the pleasures that I enjoyed in the past. One of these is walking. When I was much younger I used to walk the long-distance footpaths and trails that were then just beginning to be created. Now there are literally dozens of them to be enjoyed varying in length from a few dozen miles to several hundred. I’m not up to the lengthy walks of my youth yet – the longest took a fortnight to complete. At present, I’m content to be out for a few hours and, hopefully, the mileage will increase over time.

*England is criss-crossed by public footpaths and longer trails*

The other day my partner and I decided to visit the Roman villa at North Leigh not far from the small, Cotswold town of Woodstock. Unlike the Roman villa where you rarely see anyone, Woodstock is visited by thousands of international visitors every year, for it is where Blenheim Palace, a World Heritage Site, is located. The two houses, six miles apart in distance but fifteen hundred years apart in their building, are very different. Whereas the Palace is full of priceless treasures, all that is left of the villa are the foundations and a single mosaic floor. At its peak in 300AD, the villa was one of the largest in Britain with suites of rooms, many mosaics and several baths. Now it is quiet, wildflowers scramble over the walls and it is set in glorious countryside close to the River Evenlode. With parking close-by, this was the starting point for the walk.

*The Roman Villa, once busy – now a haven of peace and quiet*

*Wildflowers scramble over the ruins of the Roman villa*

The path to the villa and those leading away from it are well maintained and marked, making the trail easy to follow. Most of the route we took was on the network of public footpaths that criss-cross England, most of them dating from the time when all travel was either on foot or horse. At one point, the paths joined the Oxfordshire Way, a path of 66 miles in length. This in turn links to other long-distance paths so how long you walk for is entirely up to you! After ten minutes or so, the Evenlode was reached and crossed. Originally known as the Blade, its present name is relatively modern, first being recorded in use in the 1880s. It meanders through the Cotswolds for nearly fifty miles before entering the River Thames. Crossing the river, the path turns to the west and the country changes in character with steep grassy banks rich in wildflowers rising high to our right, the river to our left. Here we’re walking along Akeman Street, an ancient Roman road, once busy but now a quiet, grassy track.

*The paths cross meadows until the river is reached*

*“The tender Evenlode that makes her meadows hush to hear the sound of water…”*

Before long, the character of the path changes once more. The Evenlode changes in character too for there is a wide ford – perfect for wild swimming. Various paths meet here but we walked the steep path towards the village of Stonesfield, known locally for its history of making the stone rooftiles that are a feature of old Cotswold properties. In pre-history, the Cotswold Hills were submerged by a warm sea and now fossils can be found quite easily; they can even be seen occasionally in the stones that have been used to build the houses. It was in the Stonesfield loose and flaky rock that the very first dinosaur fossil to be found anywhere in the world was discovered. Close to where it was found, a steel bench inscribed with the words of the French poet Hilaire Belloc has recently been placed – welcome indeed, after clambering up the steep path that leads from the ford to the village.

*The rocks around the village of Stonesfield yielded the world’s first dinosaur fossil*

*The steel bench engraved with the words of Hilaire Belloc*

After a short walk along the edge of the village, our path left the Oxfordshire Way to descend steeply through meadows before reaching a strip of woodland, Stockey Plantation. Although there are firs planted there, there are also many native beech trees which are, arguably, at there most glorious at this time of year. The newly unfurled leaves are of the most intense green which, along with the deep blue of bluebells and the yellows of other spring flowers are almost too bright for the eyes to bear.

*The descent to the woods becomes more gentle as it crosses the meadow*

*The intense colours of the beech leaves and bluebells almost hurt the eyes*

Leaving the woodland we reach the Evenlode ford once more but this time cross it – there is a footbridge, so no need to get wet – before striking off across the fields again to return by an alternative route to the Roman villa and the car beyond. The walk probably took no more than a couple of hours and is relatively easy. The weather, this April has been very dry. At other times, the paths can be muddy and so sensible, walking shoes or boots are recommended. The route we chose does have some steep hills to climb but these can be avoided for there are many paths that keep to the level ground. An Ordnance Survey map of the area is handy to work out routes – I used the app on my phone but paper maps covering all parts of the UK are readily available.

*The sun seemed to shine brighter in the water than overhead*

*In the damper woodlands Ramsons, the wild garlic, carpeted the floor*

To see more photos of the Roman villa and read of its history take a look at one of my earlier posts by clicking on the link here.

To read the full text of Hilaire Beloc’s poem of the Evenlode river click here