The Hidden Story Of Oxfordshire Estate, Blenheim Palace

Standing regal in beautiful country grounds in Oxfordshire, England, Blenheim Palace, is a beautiful 18th-century estate that boasts wealth of rich and interesting history. Much needed restoration works recently uncovered a secret, but what was unearthed that caused so much excitement and intrigue?

Country Estate

Blenheim Palace is now a landmark that is visited over and over year round. In October 2018, during restoration works, a secret was discovered, that would help unravel an untold story.

Grand Bridge

The Grand Bridge which surrounds the palace was finely named, “the finest view in England”. The reason for the restoration works was, to reclaim this feature back to its original grandeur. The timely project would not be cheap either, estimated at around $15 million! But they were set to find something hiding under the foundations that would make this project worthwhile.

A Grand Gift

During the early years of the 18th Century, Blenheim Palace was erected as a means to celebrate the French victory in the War of the Spanish Succession. It was built as a generous gift to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill. John Churchill was the military commander who led the Allied forces in the Battle of Blenheim on 13th August 1704. Following the battle, Marlborough himself received the surrender from Marshal Tallard, leader of the French forces.

Royal Honor

To honor the Duke’s victories, Queen Anne rewarded him the ruined Royal Manor of Woodstock, along with £240,000 with which he could build a house to commemorate his achievements… And what a house he did build, that years later a secret would be revealed.

Prime Minister Of Britain

Blenheim Palace became a sought after tourist spot once Winston Churchill had become the Prime Minister of Britain – as he was born here in 1874. The question was, did they know about what was hiding under the bridge? Were they the ones to hide it?

Palace Development

In 1708, an esteemed architect named Sir John Vanbrugh was hired to carry out a very important task. He was assigned to add to the palace. What were his plans? After a lot of thorough planning, Vanburgh came up with the idea to develop a “habitable viaduct” inside the grounds of the estate. He concluded that the construction would take almost two years to finish, and in 1710 that the Grand Bridge, or also known as the Vanburgh Bridge, would be revealed. Although there were some who were not fans of these grand plans.

Too Ambitious

The First Duchess of Marlborough was one of the first to disagree with Vanburgh’s plans, as she believed them to be too costly and also too ambitious. It was then that he was banned from the grounds, leaving his architectural piece incomplete. Yet even with the disagreement, Vanburgh was proud that some of his work nevertheless remained, however it didn’t for very long.

Years Later….

It took fifty-eight years until another architect was chosen to finish the work on the grounds, however this time around, they were asked to add several lakes to the architecture. This was quite a project.

Lake Creation

The project was given to Lancelot “Capability” Brown, who was very respected in his field, however he had no idea then, that he would be help to make history years later. Wondering how he would be able to add several lakes to the grounds, Brown came up with an idea, he would flood the inside area of the Grand Bridge to create a lake.

Lost History

As part of the 160-acre lake project, Brown created his vision, however with that, he ensured that a part of history was long buried and forgotten, that is until now….

Man Made Lakes

You see, this water was actually causing damage to the Grand Bridge. The man-made lakes were beginning to dry out over time. What would they have to do to fix the problem?

Where Was The Water Going?

With the structure of the bridge being surrounded by water for so long, it had in fact become dependant on this, and as the water drained away, the bridge was no longer secure. But where was the water going? As the water drifted away from the Bridge, experts explained that it was due to a build-up of silt, a process that had been happening for decades. Would they be able to fix it?

Tons Of Silt

So, it seemed that the only way to secure the area would be to have skilled engineers pull 400,00 tons of silt out of the lake beds, restoring it to the depth it was back in the 18th century. What would happen next?

Difficult Task

Experts got to work, firstly installing multiple dams, siphons, and groundwater wells to enable lowering the water. They next needed to closely examine the foundations of the structure, they anticipated that the water had to be lowered by 7 feet.

The Big Reveal

And so it was, that this ancient old 18th-century secret was uncovered to everyone’s surprise. This discovery was quite a life-changing moment in history and it was all thanks to the water needing to be drained.

His Plan Was Hidden

During Vanbrugh’s project; the “habitable viaduct”, he had designed something quite extraordinary that nobody had realized. It’s clear now, that at the time they didn’t really take notice of what his grand plan really entailed. There, lurking underneath all of that water, inside of the Grand Bridge for all this time, was something extremely unexpected.

Great Idea

Quite incredibly, submerged under the water, thirty rooms sat undiscovered. Vanbrugh had a fantastic plan, that unfortunately, no one took much notice of. But as his plan was paused-, his idea was drowned later by Brown and his quest to create several lakes within the grounds. What else had been covered up and lost in history?

Somewhere To Live

Upon discovery, the rooms appeared to have been plastered, which proved that they were designed for people to live there, and the workers wondered if they did. Amazingly, researchers were called to Blenheim Palace where they conducted a 3D survey, and the results were outstanding.

Hidden In The Deep

Hidden in the depths of the water only to be discovered years later were rooms filled with fireplaces, stairways, cooking ranges, and chimney. They couldn’t believe their eyes at what was discovered. It was surreal to say the least.

The 1700s

What was even more incredible, was that the plaster had even managed to stay on parts of the walls, what’s more there was also uncovered graffiti dating all the way back to the 1760s! The researchers were dumbfounded and lost for words as they continued to look around.

Another Time Period

As they explored the area, the researchers made more discoveries, finding several interesting objects, which included 1950s boats. It is still unknown as to how they could have got there. Blenheim Palace opened to the public for the first time in 1950, and there was more to be discovered.

Site Accolade

Inside this hidden world, they also found an ancient canal system. In 1987, Blenheim Palace had been awarded a UNESCO World Heritage Site accolade, and this meant that the estate would need to constantly be maintained. It was because of this, that the restoration had been requested, however, the project was never meant to take so long.

Long Project

The time limit set for the works on the lake had been estimated to be around five months, however, after this historical find, it would take much longer. The mind blowing discovery now changes the time limit, and it could take up to two years as the project is a lot more delicate than they had intended.

Many Decades

The restoration plan set in place for the Palace will be an important part of British history to come, and is something that will attract many visitors from near and far. The stunning forest is classed as one of the world’s most important ancient oak forests. Luckily, they are now making it easier for the public to visit so people can enjoy its enchantment.

Blenheim Palace

We can all admit, that the discovery of the hidden rooms was truly incredible, and something nobody expected. Even without the restoration works, it can be said that Blenheim Palace is one of the finest places of historical beauty in England, and will always remain a marvel.