We went to Blenheim Palace last week to see the Ai Weiwei exhibition, but we had such a wonderful walk in a very small part of the grounds, that I would like to post about that first.
It was a mixed day weather-wise: lots of clouds but when the sun broke through the stone of the building glowed
and it looked wonderful.
The water terrace looked as inviting as ever
the topiary in perfectly trimmed condition.
Unfortunately they have erected this white monstrosity in order to extend the restaurant and that really did spoil the views - it's awful
In the summer when the construction is taken down you can sit around the water terrace and have a drink or lunch - it's a real treat.
We walked to the side of the house where we could just see Weiwei's installation Bubble, but decided to leave that for later as we wanted to walk
The grounds are massive. You need lots of visits to cover everything. We know the place quite well because they have an offer where once you buy your ticket you can convert it to a card that allows you to visit as many times as you like for a year for free, and we had such a card in 2009 when we must have visited at least 7 times.
Capability Brown was commissioned in 1764 to remodel the gardens and the parks. He worked in the park for 10 years. He designed a natural landscape and such landscapes in Brown's opinion always had a water feature so he created a spectacular lake. The lake was our destination.
Our first stop was the rose garden
and it was here that we got a first glimpse of the lake
The sun was out again
and some of the trees turned golden.
We followed the path
and it was a real delight
the grounds are truly beautiful.
Some ancient monumental trees,
some that are beautifully shaped
and some covered with gorgeous red berries.
We then reached the lake
and the cascade.
Capability Brown damned the River Glyme in order to create the lake. He dragged out and shaped the contours of the land to accommodate the water. At the site of the dam the rocks in the Cascade were carefully placed to create as much movement and noise as possible as the water fell.
The view from the bridge
It's all very pretty
The path leading to the cascade was curved so that people heard the dam before they saw it. (We did the walk in the reverse order so failed to experience this). By so doing, Brown hoped to raise a sense of expectation for the family and their visitors.
Looking down from the top of the cascade
which we could see in the distance
looking back
but it's always best to look forward, particularly when it's a path as lovely as this one
we really enjoyed this walk
and the light was wonderful
and now we could see not just the house but also the boat house that we would soon reach
I love views of water through trees and foliage
so here's another one
the boathouse
and then we'd come full circle back to the water terrace
lots of Grecian-style statues here
one more view of the water terrace
Ai Weiwei's Bubble
a different view
looking closer
the Italian garden
which is private with no access to visitors.
Even walking back to the car park was a delight.
It's looking lovely. We have not been back to Blenheim since we lived in Oxford in the early 70s!
ReplyDeleteThe house doesn't interest me at all, Olga - so much conspicuous consumption, so busy, to cluttered - but we love the grounds which are very beautiful. It's a great place for nice long walks.
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