Yesterday, after much urging from my family, I decided to go to Oxford. It turns out that Blenheim Palace was just a few miles north of Oxford so it also made sense to stop by and check out the birth place of Winston Churchill. Blenheim Palace is certainly in my top 10 of things to see while I travel to England (Canterbury Cathedral and Cambridge are as well, but they are on the opposite side of the country).
Looking at the map it looked like an easy trip; M4 from Bristol to the A34 north to Oxford. As it turns out it was just that easy. What I hadn't really planned for was where to go once I got to Oxford. It took a while, but I eventually started to see the "Tourist Information" signs. I managed to locate a parking garage (paid for 2 hours, because I still wanted to go to Blenheim Palace) and then started following the signs. In spite of diligently following the signs I almost managed to walk right past the tourist information centre. I just happened to look right and see it. Armed with a map that included a self guided tour I set off on foot to explore Oxford. They did offer an array of basic and specialized tours, but I was on a tight schedule. First stop was the Martyr's Memorial, a monument to three Protestant Bishops who were burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Queen Mary. Heading back the direction I just came from I came to St Michael at the North Gate Church. This tower attached to this church is the oldest structure standing n Oxford. You can climb up the tower and get a great view of the city. As an added bonus for 20p you can watch the old clock mechanism operate and ring some bells!
Walking down Cornmarket street I walked passed Christ Church College. I'm sure it's a fine college, but it was also used in the filming of the Harry Potter series. I did not have time to tour through the college. I walked further on and found myself at Radcliffe Camera (pictured above). The word camera comes from the Latin word for "room" or "chamber". It was originally built as a science library, but today house many other subjects and is a reading room. Unfortunately it is not open to the public. Next to the Radcliffe Camera is the Bodleian Library (one of the oldest in Europe and second largest in Britain). I was definitely bummed that I did not allow enough time to visit this library. The current exhibits are on the making of the King James Bible and the Gough Map, the first road map of England created in the 1360's.
That was really all I had time to see in Oxford, but I definitely need to find time to go back and stay longer.
Leaving Oxford behind I drove north about 10 miles to Blenheim Palace. The palace is famous for two reasons; the 1st Duke of Marlborough and the birth of Winston Churchill. John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, is best known for defeating the French forces of Louis XIV under General Tallard at the Battle of Blenheim in Germany. It was the first time that Louis XIV's forces had been defeated. The Duke of Marlborough went on to win every engagement that he was involved in and is considered one of England's greatest generals. Because of the victory at Blenheim, the Queen gave the Duke of Marlborough the land on which Blenhiem Palace sits and the money to build a palace. Blenheim Palace is one of only a few residences in England that are called palaces but don't belong to the royal family. It is still the the home of the 11th Duke of Marlborough. Ooh, I forgot to mention that when I was in the Tourist Information Center in Oxford I bought my ticket to gain entry into Blenheim Palace (for 16 GBP instead of 19 GBP) they told me to stop in and have it upgraded to an annual pass. I thought nothing of it at the time. When I did show up at the ticket office at Blenheim Palace they did upgrade my day pass to an annual pass at no extra cost. I even got my picture taken and printed on a card that I can bring back any time in the next 12 months.
Blenhiem Palace is quite stunning, although you only get to tour the first floor. There was a triathlon going on that was using the grounds of the palace so there were very large crowds on the grounds. The main square was taken up with the gear of the athletes and it was very difficult to walk down to Victory Tower on the north end of the grounds so I skipped that this time (I can go back because I have an annual pass). The landscaping on the grounds were designed by "Capability" Brown. Lancelot "Capability" Brown also designed the grounds at Cardiff Castle which I visited last month. The grounds were expansive, over 2000 acres, and very impressive, but the palace dominates the landscape.
While the 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife are buried in the chapel at the palace, Winston Churchill is buried at a church just off the south end of the property. I asked the young lady at the gift shop how to get there and she directed me to "turn right at the exit and then go until you see a pub on the right hand side. You have to park at the pub because there is no parking at the church". I parked at the pub and had a pint of Guinness (I couldn't just use their parking space) and walked the short distance to the church. Churchill's burial site is rather nondescript. The interesting bit were the plastic poppies that were left by a Danish group and the small bottle of gin. Nearby there is a bench that was dedicated by a group of Danish Freedom Fighters from WWII honoring Churchill. Next to Churchill is the grave of Consuelo Vanderbilt, the wife of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and member of the American Vanderbilt family. She, and her dowry, were instrumental in many of the improvements that were made in the palace. This means that both Winston Churchill's mother and Aunt were American.
After leaving Blenheim Palace I decided to try and locate White Horse Hill of Uffington (not Effingham). The journey involved the normal pointing the car in the general direction and looking for signs. After driving down many small English roads I finally came upon signs for White Horse Hill. It was impossible to get a complete picture of the horse from the ground, but I did get several shots. When I climbed up to the top of the hill, I realized that you can basically walk right up to the horse, the only thing keeping people off the horse is a sign asking them not to walk on it. The horse was built about 3000 years ago by digging a series of trenches to form the shape and then filling them in with blocks of chalk. There are seven more chalk horses in the area, but all created in the 18th and 19th centuries. As they are not sign posted, I did not attempt to find them.
All in all it was a very interesting day. Today is rain, rain and more rain. I decided not to spend another day traipsing about in the cold English rain. The next trip will probably be an overnight trip due to the distances that I have planned.
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