Woodstock Palace

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An old print of the Palace of Woodstock

Woodstock Palace was a royal residence in the English town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire.[1]

Henry I of England built a hunting lodge here and in 1129 he built 7 miles (11 km) of walls to create the first enclosed park, where lions and leopards were kept. The lodge became a palace under Henry's grandson, Henry II, who spent time here with his mistress, Rosamund Clifford.[1]

Important events that took place at the palace include:

Henry VII rebuilt a part of the palace in the 1490s. The work was supervised by Master George Gainesford, and the mason was William Este.[3]

King James I and his wife Anne of Denmark came to Woodstock in September 1603 during a time of plague.[4] Sir Robert Cecil criticised the building as, "unwholsome, all the house standing upon springs. It is unsavoury, for there is no savour but of cows and pigs. It is uneaseful, for only the King and Queen with the privy chamber ladies and 3 or 4 of Scottish council are lodged in the house".[5] The court was at Woodstock again in September 1610.[6]

In 1611, King James I gave Woodstock Palace to his son Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales,[7] who had a banqueting house built of leafy tree branches in the park, in which he held a dinner for his parents and his sister Princess Elizabeth in August 1612.[8][9]

Woodstock Palace was mostly destroyed during the English Civil War.

Inescutcheon "of the Honour and Manor of Woodstock", granted by royal warrant in 1722 as an augmentation of honour to the coat of arms of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and borne at his funeral. By a further royal licence in 1817 it was added as an augmentation to the arms of the Dukes of Marlborough. Cross of St George surmounted by the royal arms of France[10]

In 1705, Parliament granted the royal manor and honor (i.e. feudal barony) of Woodstock to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722), in recognition of his victory over the French at the Battle of Blenheim on 13 August 1704. The manor was to be held in feudal tenure from Queen Anne in free socage by service of grand serjeanty "of presenting at Windsor Castle, on the anniversary of the battle, a standard bearing the fleur-de-lys of France".[11] An inescutcheon "of the Honour and Manor of Woodstock" was further granted by royal warrant in 1722 as an augmentation of honour to his coat of arms and was borne at his funeral. By a further Royal Licence, 26th May 1817, the inescutcheon was added as an augmentation of honour to the arms of the Dukes of Marlborough,[12] and is still borne by them today. The arms comprise a Cross of St George surmounted by the royal arms of France.[13] On the manor of Woodstock was built for the Duke his new seat Blenheim Palace, which used some stone from the old Palace.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Pipe, Simon (23 October 2007). "Woodstock's lost royal palace". BBC Oxford. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  2. ^ Davies, John. History of Wales. p. 140.
  3. ^ Samuel Bentley, Excerpta Historica: Or, Illustrations of English History (London, 1831), pp. 96, 98.
  4. ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 15 (London, 1930), p. 243.
  5. ^ Edmund Lodge, Illustrations of British History, vol. 3 (London, 1791), p. 186.
  6. ^ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610-1613, vol. 12 (London, 1906), pp. 40-1.
  7. ^ Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, 1610-1613, vol. 12 (London, 1906), p. 207 no. 324.
  8. ^ Mary Anne Everett Green & S. C. Lomas, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (London, 1909), p. 23.
  9. ^ Thomas Birch, Life of Henry Prince of Wales (London, 1760), pp. 331-2.
  10. ^ The book of public arms : a complete encyclopædia of all royal, territorial, municipal, corporate, official, and impersonal arms by Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles, 1915, p.862[1]
  11. ^ A P Baggs, W J Blair, Eleanor Chance, Christina Colvin, Janet Cooper, C J Day, Nesta Selwyn and S C Townley, 'Blenheim: Woodstock manor', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 12, Wootton Hundred (South) Including Woodstock, ed. Alan Crossley and C R Elrington (London, 1990), pp. 431-435 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol12/pp431-435
  12. ^ The book of public arms : a complete encyclopædia of all royal, territorial, municipal, corporate, official, and impersonal arms by Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles, 1915, p.862[2]
  13. ^ Blazon: On an escutcheon argent the Cross of St George surmounted by another escutcheon azure charged with three fleurs-de-lis two and one or (Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968, p.747)

Coordinates: 51°50′45″N 01°21′50″W / 51.84583°N 1.36389°W / 51.84583; -1.36389

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