Blenheim Palace grounds - celebrating 300 years of Capability Brown

Well, here's where I had my picnic lunch on Good Friday. Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. I've decided to visit a few places connected with Lancelot "Capability" Brown this year, as it's 300 years since he was born.

Before he started landscaping it, this was a valley with a small brook running through it. Now there are two lakes and a couple of islands. (The lake above is the biggest stretch of open water in Oxfordshire, apparently)

Lots of other tourists were there too...

...though most didn't venture far from the buildings.

Capability Brown preferred plain grass to sweep up to the house, to emphasise the building itself: he was not a fan of ornate gardens, which he regarded as artificial.

 
With of course, a lake nearby!

  

A relic from an earlier period: Rosamund's Well - reputedly built by Henry II for his mistress, Rosamund Clifford.

The Grand Bridge

No avenue of trees leading here (again regarded as too artificial) 

The Column of Victory - celebrating the Battle of Blenheim. 

Out in the park the buds were beginning to burst into growth

All of the paths are surfaced, which makes them ideal for wheelchairs and pushchairs

It was possible to get well away from others. This is part of the Oxfordshire Way which passes through the grounds.

Gardening under way at Park Farm

Our circular walk took us back to the lake again, then back to the house.

What a fabulous place to learn to ride a scooter, 

There were carriage rides available - and face painting too, apparently.

Very atmospheric.

The gift shop

Blenheim is of course associated with Winston Churchill

There was lots more to see: I didn't manage to get to see the Capability Brown Exhibition (but actually visiting the grounds was probably better). Nor did I visit the house, or the formal gardens round the back!

Today's walk: 6 miles round the grounds. Didn't see all the highlights, but a stunning place to take a walk. 
There is an admission fee of £14.90 to visit the park and gardens, but the public footpaths in the wider part of the park are free to visit because they are rights of way. The purchase of a ticket allows you to visit throughout the year as an annual pass. (They take your photo so you can't pass it on to a friend. Though if you're a twin...) Highly recommended. But not on a Bank Holiday: traffic queues to get in.