Page 5 - cn - fg -The nature of Blenheim - studio curated 05-02-2024

Jane Clifford known as Rosmund was the daughter of Walter de Clifford, a Marcher Lord and his wife
Margaret de Clifford.

Jane was raised at her father’s Clifford Castle and sent to a convent of Benedictine Nuns at Godstow Abbey for
education. The legendary romance has been depicted by the Pre -Raphaelite painters.

In latter periods, Queen Elizabeth I was temporarily imprisoned at Woodstock by her sister Mary. During the
English civil War , King Charles I briefly stayed at Woodstock on his way to Oxford in 1642.
As a royal residence Woodstock was left to decay. At the time the river Glyme flowed through the valley from
Woodstock as a stream and was described in 1677 by a Dr .R .Plot as “a rivulet over which two raised causeways

provided a route to and from the manor house.”

In 1704 the estate was presented by Queen Anne to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough as a gift of usage on a
‘Quit Rent’ basis for the royal manor of Woodstock.

When Blenheim Palace was first envisaged the potential to use water as a major element within the landscape came
firstly from Sir John Vanburgh. In a later period, the landscape architect Capability Brown created the lakes we
see today and took them to a dramatic scale and effect.
Water has continued to play a major element in the Nature of Blenheim as Water Terraces and surrounding gardens
were created in the Italianate School which was at the height of fashion in the time of the 9th Duke of Marlborough.

The 10th Duke introduced a Secret Garden where water was the key feature to the garden scheme. In addition he
also introduced fountains to the Upper Water Terrace which allowed an elemental dynamism to the setting.