Heatwave reveals palace’s lost 18th-century garden

By Dean Murray

The heatwave has revealed Blenheim Palace's "lost" 18th-century garden.

The prolonged spell of hot, dry weather has exposed the hidden outline of the Oxfordshire stately home's 300-year-old parterre, offering a rare glimpse of the formal garden that once graced the grounds.

The term parterre is taken from the French word meaning 'on the ground' and refers to an ornamental, formal garden arranged around flower beds, paths and symmetrical patterns.

The original parterre was created in 1705 by royal gardener Henry Wise and stretched across the full width of the palace and was surrounded by a high stone wall with bastions.

The continued heatwave conditions have uncovered parch marks highlighting the outline of the garden, which was dismantled by renowned landscape gardener Lancelot "Capability" Brown when he transformed the gardens in the 1760s.

Andy Mills, head gardener at Blenheim Palace, said: "The excessively dry weather has given us a fascinating bird's-eye view into Blenheim's past, allowing us to trace the intricate design and scale of the original parterre. It's a brilliant reminder of the formal gardens that came before and the layers of history that continue to shape the Palace's landscape."

Andy has a 10-year plan to restore and transform the Formal Gardens at Blenheim - the biggest change to its 90 acres of gardens in over 100 years.

The work will see the reintroduction of many 'lost' features and elements which have disappeared across the last three centuries.

Built in the early 18th century as a reward to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, for his victory at the Battle of Blenheim, Blenheim Palace remains the ancestral home of the Dukes of Marlborough.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site is also famous as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, who was born there in 1874.