Friday, February 27, 2015

Friday Video: Blenheim Palace on a Frosty Morning

Friday, February 27, 2015

Isabella reporting,

I love how new technology can be combined with centuries-old history to create dazzling results. Cameras mounted on high-flying drones are offering view of historical landmarks that were previously unimaginable (like our recent Friday video of the Palais Garnier in Paris.)

Today's short clip captures one of Britain's most famous county houses, Blenheim Palace, on a frosty January morning. Located in Oxfordshire, Blenheim is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and was built in the early 18th c. in gratitude by the country for the military accomplishments of the first duke, John Churchill. Those of you who have read my historical novel, Duchess, written as Susan Holloway Scott, will recall the trials of the poor architects attempting to please the demanding first duchess Sarah Churchill, as well as the political infighting that the house's costly twenty-year-long construction caused.

But that, like the Battle of Blenheim that gave its name to the house, is all long in the past.  What we have today is a magnificent palace of a house, and from the lawns and gardens glistening with frost to the impressive silhouettes of the roof, this is truly an impressive bird's eye view.

If you receive this post by email, you may be seeing only a blank space or black square where the video should appear. Please go directly the blog here to view the video.

3 comments:

Karen Anne said...

What are those posts in the river behind the bridge? Is part of the river closed to traffic?

Isabella Bradford/Susan Holloway Scott said...

Karen Anne, I don't have the answer. Has anyone who has perhaps visited the palace know why?

Anonymous said...

posts prevent water craft from passing under the bridge. It prevents boats from potentially coming too close to t he sides of the structure and damaging the historic and fragile edges of the stone bridge

 
Two Nerdy History Girls. Design by Pocket