Posts Tagged ‘Italian Garden Blenheim’

It was my birthday a few weeks ago so we went to the Cotswolds for the weekend, spent the night in a lovely country hotel and then decided to meander around Blenheim Palace gardens on the Sunday.  I’ve been to Blenheim many times, but this is the first time I’ve ever had chance to look at the gardens.

The Blenheim Palace grounds were designed by Capability Brown in the 1760s but the more formal gardens were added by the 9th Duke of Marlborough in the 1920s, with help of the French Landscape Architect Achille Duchêne.

It took five years to build the Water Terraces which are very formal and reminiscent of the Parterre d’Eau at Versaille.  These are very formal gardens, but feel right with the dominating architecture of the palace.

The Italian Garden is the Duke’s private garden and can be seen by a public walkway.  Clipped box and yew forms the structure of this garden which is both formal and architectural.

I loved the formality of the garden but the parkland beyond was gorgeous too…