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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Blenheim Palace
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(16km/10m NW of Oxford) The most self-important building in Britain, adopting the tone of solemn grandeur pioneered by Louis XIV, whose defeat the palace celebrates. Designed by *Vanbrugh with the assistance of *Hawksmoor, and built 1705–22, it was the gift of a grateful parliament to the duke of *Marlborough after his victory at *Blenheim. The vast courtyard and portico lead the visitor into a towering entrance hall beneath a ceiling (by Sir John Thornhill) in which the duke, in the guise of a Roman general, is presented with a laurel wreath by Britannia. Another British hero is commemorated in a more modest fashion in the palace, for the bedroom is on show in which Winston *Churchill was born. The surroundings of the palace, originally formal in the style of the time, were given their present more romantic character by Capability *Brown.
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