[Illustration: CHAUCER'S HOUSE.]
Not far away from Oxford is the manor of Woodstock, where "Fair
Rosamond's Bower" was built by King Henry II. This manor was an early
residence of the kings of England, and Henry I. built a palace there,
adding to it a vast park. Of this palace not a sign is now to be seen,
but two sycamores have been planted to mark the spot. The poet Chaucer
lived at Woodstock, and is supposed to have taken much of the
descriptive scenery of his _Dream_ from the park. Edward the Black
Prince, son of Edward III., was born at Woodstock. Henry VII. enlarged
the palace, and put his name upon the principal gate; and this
gate-house was one of the prisons of the princess Elizabeth, where she
was detained by her sister, Queen Mary. Elizabeth is said to have
written with charcoal on a window-shutter of her apartment, in 1555, a
brief poem lamenting her imprisonment. Her room had an arched roof
formed of carved Irish oak and colored with blue and gold, and it was
preserved until taken down by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. In the
Civil War the palace was besieged, and after surrender, unlike most
similar structures, escaped demolition. Cromwell allotted it to three
persons, two of whom pulled down their portions for the sake of the
stone. Charles II. appointed the Earl of Rochester gentleman of the
bedchamber and comptroller of Woodstock Park, and it is said that he
here scribbled upon the door of the bedchamber of the king the
well-known mock epitaph:
"Here lies our sovereign lord, the king.
Whose word no man relies on;
He never says a foolish thing,
Nor ever does a wise one."
In Queen Anne's reign Woodstock was granted to John Churchill, Duke of
Marlborough, for his eminent military services. The condition of the
grant, which is still scrupulously performed, was that on August 2d in
every year he and his heirs should present to the reigning monarch at
Windsor Castle one stand of colors, with three fleurs-de-lis painted
thereon. The estate was named Blenheim, after the little village on the
Danube which was the scene of his greatest victory on August 2, 1704.
Ten years later, the duchess Sarah took down the remains of the old
palace of Woodstock, and Scott has woven its history into one of his
later novels. Hardly any trace remains of old Woodstock, and the only
ruin of interest is a curious chimney-shaft of the fourteenth century,
which a probably inaccurate tradition says was part of the residence of
the Black Prince.
[Illustration: OLD REMAINS AT WOODSTOCK.]
[Illustration: BLENHEIM PALACE, FROM THE LAKE.]
Woodstock Park covers twenty-seven hundred acres, and is nearly twelve
miles in circuit, abounding with fine trees and having an undulating
surface, over which roam a large herd of deer and a number of kangaroos.
When the manor was granted to the Duke of Marlborough, Parliament voted
a sum of money to build him a palace "as a monument of his glorious
actions." The park is entered through a fine Corinthian gateway, built
by the duchess Sarah in memory of her husband the year after his death.
A pretty stream of water, the river Glyme, with a lake, winds through a
valley in front of the palace, and is crossed by a stately stone bridge
with a centre arch of one hundred feet span. Not far from this bridge
was Fair Rosamond's Bower, now marked by a wall; beyond the bridge,
standing on the lawn, is the Marlborough Column, a fluted Corinthian
pillar one hundred and thirty-four feet high, surmounted by the hero in
Roman dress and triumphal attitude. This monument to the great duke has
an account of his victories inscribed on one face of the pedestal, while
on the others are the acts of Parliament passed in his behalf, and an
abstract of the entail of his estates and honors upon the descendants of
his daughters. Parliament voted $2,500,000 to build Blenheim Palace, to
which the duke added $300,000 from his own resources. The duke died
seventeen years after the palace was begun, leaving it unfinished. We
are told that the trees in the park were planted according to the
position of the troops at Blenheim. The architect of the palace was
John Vanbrugh, of whom the satirical epitaph was written:
"Lie heavy on him, Earth, for he
Laid many a heavy load on thee."
The palace is a massive structure, with spacious portals and lofty
towers, and its principal front, which faces the north, extends three
hundred and forty-eight feet from wing to wing, with a portico and
flight of steps in the centre. The interior is very fine, with
magnificently-painted ceilings, tapestries, statuary, and a rare
collection of pictures. The tapestries represent Blenheim and other
battles, and there are one hundred and twenty copies of famous masters,
made by Teniers. A stately statue of Queen Anne stands in the library.
There are costly collections of enamels, plaques, and miniatures; on the
walls are huge paintings by Sir James Thornhill, one representing the
great duke, in a blue cuirass, kneeling before Britannia, clad in white
and holding a lance and wreath; Hercules and Mars stand by, and there
are emblem-bearing females and the usual paraphernalia. We are told that
Thornhill was paid for these at the rate of about six dollars per square
yard. The duchess Sarah also poses in the collection as Minerva, wearing
a yellow classic breastplate. Among other relics kept in the palace are
Oliver Cromwell's teapot, another teapot presented by the Duc de
Richelieu to Louis XIV., two bottles that belonged to Queen Anne, and
some Roman and Grecian pottery. The great hall, which has the battle of
Blenheim depicted on its ceiling, extends the entire height of the
building; the library is one hundred and eighty-three feet long; and in
the chapel, beneath a pompous marble monument, rest the great duke and
his proud duchess Sarah, and their two sons, who died in early years.
The pleasure-gardens extend over three hundred acres along the borders
of the lake and river, and are very attractive. They contain the Temple
of Health erected on the recovery of George III. from his illness, an
aviary, a cascade elaborately constructed of large masses of rock, a
fountain copied after one in Rome, and a temple of Diana. This great
estate was the reward of the soldier whose glories were sung by Addison
in his poem on the _Campaign_. Addison then lived in a garret up three
pair of stairs over a small shop in the Haymarket, London, whither went
the Chancellor of the Exchequer to get him to write the poem, and
afterwards gave him a place worth $1000 a year as a reward. The
Marlboroughs since have been almost too poor to keep up this magnificent
estate in its proper style, for the family of Spencer-Churchill, which
now holds the title, unlike most of the other great English houses, has
not been blessed with a princely private fortune. Not far from Woodstock
is Minster Lovel, near the village of Whitney. Some fragments of the
house remain, and it has its tale of interest, like all these old
houses. Lord Lovel was one of the supporters of the impostor Simnel
against Henry VII., and his rebellion being defeated in the decisive
battle at Stoke in Nottinghamshire, Lord Lovel escaped by unfrequented
roads and arrived home at night. He was so disguised that he was only
known by a single servant, on whose fidelity he could rely. Before
daybreak he retired to a subterranean recess, of which this servant
retained the key, and here he remained several months in safe
concealment. The king confiscated the estate, however, and dispersed the
household, so that the voluntary prisoner perished from hunger. During
the last century, when this stately house was pulled down, the vault was
discovered, with Lord Lovel seated in a chair as he had died. So
completely had rubbish excluded the air that his dress, which was
described as superb, and a prayer-book lying before him on the table,
were entire, but soon after the admission of the air the body is said to
have fallen into dust.