Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0848.jpg

52

BLADON.

OXFORDSHIRE.

[ k b l l y ’s

is a good 15th century house with mullioned windows
and two bold round chimneys. Round Castle, an earth­ house, in 1858 by the 7th Duke of Marlborough KG*
work on Bladon Heath, is marked by a clump of trees. & enlarged in 1890 & 1894 for 161 children; John T
The Duke of Marlborough K.G.. P.C. is lord of the
Savile, master; Miss Savile, infants’ mistress
manor and owner of nearly all the land in this parish.
The soil is clay and gravel; subsoil, clay and stone Carriers to Oxford.— T. Timms, through from Stones
field, wed. & sat. returning same days ; Joseph Nan*
brash. The area is 831 acres of land and 20 of water;
rateable value, £1,291; the population in 1911 was 374. pin, every wed. & sat. & William Nib'bs,from Coomb*"
wed. & sat
'
Parish Clerk. Henry Mnlcock.
Post Office.— Mrs. M. Williams, sub-postmistress. Let­ HENSINGTON, once a hamlet, has, underthe“Local
ters through Woodstock arrive at 7 a.m. & 1.10, 5.15 Government Act, 1894,” been divided into two civil
& 7.25 p.m. Box cleared at 7 a.m. & 5.15 & 7.25 parishes, respectively Hensington, within the boroughof
p.m. ; Sundays, 9.15 p.m. ; 110 sunday delivery of Woodstock, and Hensington Without. The area of
letters; callers' letters 9.15 a.m. sunday. Wall Letter Hensington Without is 559 acres of land and 1 0f
Box, 7.15 a.m. & 5.10 & 7.20 p.m.; Sundays, 9.20 water; rateable value, £1,004; the population in 19x1
p.m. Woodstock, about 1$ miles distant, is the was 141. Woodstock cemetery is situated in thisparish
nearest money order & telegraph office
BLADON.
Floyd Amelia (Mrs.), laundress
Smith Charles, grocer
Fryer John J.P. farmer, Manor farm Tolley Henry Albert, quarry owner
P R IV A T E R E S ID E N T S .
Ballantine Capt. J. A.The Homestead Gunston Alfred, f a r m e T , Rectory farmj Bladon; & at Handborough & GibHarris William, shoe maker
raltar; & builder, Bladon
Fryer John J.P. Manor farm
Tolley John, assistant overseer
Haynes Percival Robt. The Beeches Hudson Edwin, King’s Arms P.H
Long Thomas, blacksmith
IWalton Percy A.R.S.I. inspector of
Robertson Andrew
Maisey Mark, Lamb P.H
j canal boats & sanitary inspector to
C O M M E R C IA L .
Nappin Joseph, carrier
| Woodstock Rural District Council
Robinson George, farmer
Wilsdon Thomas, shoe maker
Adams & Son, bakers
Cockhead Mary (Mrs.), shopkeeper St. Martin's Club (Rev. Charles
HENSINGTON.
Humphry Minchin M.A. rector,!
Cockhead William, insurance agent
president)
Cockhead Edwin,OldWhite House P.H
Danbury Joseph, saddler
BLENHEIM, formerly extra-parochial, is now a central block, with wings united to it by colonnades,
parish adjoining Woodstock on the south, witha terminal proceeding from massive square towers at the ex­
station called Blenheim and Woodstock on a brancn from tremities of the principal front, thus forming three sides
Eadlington on the Oxford, Banbury and Birmingham of a great court entered from between the wings by a
section of the Great Western railway, in the Mid division fine arch : the extreme length of the building is 850feet,
of the county, petty sessional division of Wootton South, the chief or north front extending 348 feet from wingWoodstock union and county court district. During the to wing, and the south front, consisting of five divisions,
Saxon period this place was the residence of King Alfred being also 348 feet in length, while the entire area of
the Great, who, while here, occupied himself in translat­ the buildings is not less than 3 acres: the principal
ing “The Consolation of Philosophy ” of Boethius; and front exhibits in a remarkable degree the fertility of
several statutes were enacted by a Parliament summoned design possessed by the architect, the horizontal lines
here by Ethelred. The palace was rebuilt by Henry I. of the elevation being skilfully broken up by an exuberant
who, stocking the park, anciently known as “Wood- and sometimes fanciful variety of ornamental features;
stock,” with deer and other animals, inclosed it/with a directly in the centre rises a majestic portico with six
stone wall, thus making it, according to the historian pillars’of the Corinthian order, supporting a pediment
Rouse, the first inclosed park in England; it was also adorned' with the armorial insignia of the first duke,
the favourite residence of Henry II. who erected a bower surrounded by emblematic accessories, on the apex of
in the woods, concealing it by means of a labyrinth, for which is a statue of Minerva: in rear of the portico
his mistress, Fair Rosamond, daughter ofWalter Clifford, extends on either side central portions of the palace,
lord of Clifford Castle, in Herefordshire; she died in lighted by two ranges of spacious windows divided by
1177 and was buried at Godstow nunnery, near Oxford; pilasters, supporting a frieze and balustrading, sur­
remains of the bower were, however, still to be seen in mounted by statues; thence the front expands on both
1622, and her name is yet given to a well from which sides in a curve, consisting of buildings of two stories,
flows a copious stream of pure water. Henry VIII. arcadedwith Doric pilastersand terminating in the upper
made considerable additions to the palace; and the gate­ stage with a balustrade, and these are flanked in turn
house, which contained the room known as “ Queen by the rusticated towered structures already noticed,
Elizabeth’s chamber ” (from the circumstance of that and a terrace projecting from each tower connects the
princess having been confined there by her sister Queen lateral divisions of the edifice with the centre: the ap­
Mary), had an inscription upon it describing Henry proach through thetriumphal arch at Woodstock isone
V TTT. as its founder.
The manor of Woodstock con­ of great magnificence, displaying the mansion in allits
tinued in the hands of the Crown until the reign of architectural splendour, whilst the lake and_ the bridge
Queen Anne, who granted it, 28 Jan. 1704-5, together over it combine with the outline of the hills in theback­
with the hundred of Wootton, in all about 22,000 acres, ground to produce a scene of striking and unrivalled
to John Churchill, the Great Duke of Marlborough K.G. beauty; this arch was reared by Sarah, 1st Duchess oi
and his heirs for ever, the terms of the grant being Marlborough, and is a structure of the Corinthian order,
that the duke or his successors shall present to the containing a porter’s lodge, and has on two sides Latin
reigning sovereign a standard of France on the 13th of and English inscriptions recording its erection ; an
August (2nd O.S.), being the anniversary of the famous avenue two miles long forms the approach to the grand
victory which he gained over the French and Bavarians front from the Ditchley gate; this road passesitiae
in 1704, at the battle of Hochstet, near the village of Column of Victory, a monumental pillar of the Don
Blenheim or Blindheim, on the banks of the Danube, order, 130 feet high, surmounted by a statue of tie
when Marshal Tallard and upwards of 11,000 French and Duke of Marlborough, habited in classic costume, .
Bavarians were taken prisoners, and near 2,000 killed, baton in the left hand and an emblem of Victory in
wounded, or drowned in the river; a flag bearing three right; on the four sides of the pedestal are inscnptio
fleurs-de-lis is accordingly presented every year and detailing his services and the various grants and Acts
deposited in the Guard Room of Windsor Castle. Strat- Parliament which have been made in his favour- r0
fieidsaye is held by the Duke of Wellington on a similar this column rows of stately trees, first descrLbl^,he
tenure. This grant was confirmed by Act of Parliament open square to the east and west, converge towar s
passed 14th March, 1705, bestowing on the Duke of rear and form a prolonged and delightful vl*
Marlborough the sum of £240,000 for the erection of minated by the lake, the grand bridge and thesbuiia g
the palace, the building of which was begun June 18th, of the palace: the great hall, entered from the p
■
1705, and had not been concluded on the death of the on the principal front, is 67 feet high, and has
ceiling, supported by fluted Corinthian columns,
duke, 16th June, 1722.
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The present Blenheim Palace, wholly erected from
the designs of Sir John Vanbrugh, architect and dra­ of Victory pointing to a plan of the battle of h .fl
matist, at a total cost, according to Cox, of £300,000, and crowning the Duke of Marlborough, ^ ®
and considered by many to be his masterpiece, occupies Roman costume : the arcades on either side of ^ ^
an elevated site,sufficiently raised to display in an ad­ are adorned with marble termini, and around a ^
mirable manner the varied characteristics of the struc­ posed fine antique and modern statues, with a c ^
ture, without either lessening its apparent extent or Des Granges and a wind dial in bronze; . /j one
gg
depriving it of any of its stateliness. The whole fabric secured by a unique and singular lock, copied
is constructed of freestone, and consists of a grand on the former gates of Warsaw; there are aso