Gardens & Park
2,000 acres of English landscape
From Achille Duchêne's formal Water Terraces to Capability Brown's serpentine lake, the Blenheim estate is one of the finest designed landscapes in Europe.
The Water Terraces
Achille Duchêne's Italianate masterpiece below the west front, modelled on the gardens at Versailles.
The Secret Garden
An intimate sanctuary of winding paths, water features and year-round colour created in the early 2000s.
The Rose Garden
Hundreds of fragrant roses circle a central pool — at their best in June and July.
Italian Garden
Private formal garden glimpsed from the east front, designed in 1908 by the 9th Duke.
The Great Lake
Capability Brown's masterstroke — a serpentine lake formed by damming the River Glyme in the 1760s.
The Pleasure Gardens
Family favourite: butterfly house, lavender garden, maze and the giant Marlborough Maze.
Capability Brown at his finest
The Great Park
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown began work at Blenheim in 1764, dramatically reshaping the valley of the River Glyme. By damming the river he created the Great Lake — a sinuous body of water that flows beneath Vanbrugh's Grand Bridge and remains, more than two and a half centuries later, the defining view of the estate.
Today, miles of waymarked walks loop around the lake and through the ancient parkland, with views of the Column of Victory, the Temple of Diana and the Grand Cascade.