LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Duke of Marlborough
built 615 days ago
On the evening of 1st August 1704 the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene studied the terrain between the armies from a church steeple. They saw that the ground was cut by a number of tributary streams flowing North West to South East into the Danube and that the village of Blenheim lay beyond the point where one of the streams, the Nebel, joined the main river. The French and Bavarian troops were encamped on the ground behind the Nebel between Blenheim and Lutzingen, a distance of some 2 ½ miles. The road from Donauworth to Dillingen passed through Blenheim, crossing the Nebel by a stone bridge now partly destroyed.
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Following the 1st Duke's death the Duchess concentrated most of her considerable energies on the completion of the palace itself, and the park remained relatively unchanged until the arrival of Capability Brown in 1764. The 4th Duke employed Brown who immediately began a scheme to naturalize and enhance the landscape, with tree planting, and man made undulations. However, the feature with which he is forever associated is the lake, a huge stretch of water created by damming the River Glyme and ornamented by a series of cascades where the river flows in and out. The lake was narrowed at the point of Vanbrugh's grand bridge, but the three small canal-like streams trickling underneath it were completely absorbed by one river-like stretch. Brown's great achievement at this point was to actually flood and submerge beneath the water level the lower stories and rooms of the bridge itself... reducing its incongruous height and achieving what is regarded by many as the epitome of an English landscape. Brown also grassed over the great parterre and the Great Court.
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The Dukedom of Marlborough is the only Dukedom in the United Kingdom that can still pass in the female line. However, the Dukedom does not follow male-preference primogeniture as most other peerages that can pass in the female line do. It actually follows a kind of Semi-Salic Law. The succession for the Dukedom is as follows:
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The Duke of Bridgwater’s second wife was Rachel Russell, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Bedford, and he replaced Marlborough ducal arms in the centre of the basin with his own, impaled with those of Russell. The Marlborough arms are still just visible on the basin, but more evident beneath the lip of the ewer, where the legs of the lion rampant of the fourth quarter of Marlborough's arms are visible below the later Russell lion rampant.
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The Duke is a comfortable, friendly, traditional pub, in an excellent position adjacent to the beginning of Verulamium park on the main road into St Albans. The pub was built in 1854, and has been dedicated to serving fine ales and good food to its customers ever since. In November 2004, Steve and Leanne took over, and spent many hours and much effort giving it a complete facelift. By May 2005, it was completely refurbished, in restful colours.
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JW negotiated with the Duke through the dealer D. C. Thomson in April 1892 to paint his portrait and that of his wife. He made a preparatory study (r. and v.: Study for a proposed portrait of the Duke Marlborough (M.1337)) but unfortunately the Duke died in November 1892 before the commission could be completed. See transcription">#04021, transcription">#05723, transcription">#05758, transcription">#08342, transcription">#08319.
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Duke of Marlborough