Blenheim Palace Landscape
Conserving a UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape
Nick Cox Architects have been involved in conservation works on several of the structures within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape at Blenheim Palace.
Revealing the Grand Bridge
The Grand Bridge (1708-1724), was designed to provide a level arrival route connecting the main drive to the Palace. Once described as being a “mansion” and a “cool retreat in summer,” it features many internal rooms. However, by 1774, some of the lower spaces were already submerged by the water levels of Capability Brown’s new lake.Â
Following recent signs of distress and deterioration, a full 3D measured survey of the Bridge was carried out. For the first time, this truly allowed full understanding of the relationships between the many spaces inside the Bridge. This gave a real sense of the structure’s grandeur as originally designed. An extensive programme of repairs is planned over a period of time, which has necessitated the dredging of the Queen’s Pool Lake. With the water level of the lake lowered, the Bridge’s submerged stonework has been revealed for the first time in 250 years.Â
From Ice House to Cave Habitat
The early eighteenth-century Ice House located in the grounds of Blenheim Palace was in very poor condition. The masonry entrance was crumbling away and had a significant lean, the brick tunnel was deteriorating, and the brick egg-shaped chamber had radial cracks all around. Nick Cox Architects oversaw the restoration of the Ice House following receipt of grant funding from Natural England. The works saw the complete rebuild of the tunnel and front elevation and the stitching of the chamber to stabilise the structure. The Ice House is now an ideal habitat for bats and cave spiders.
Adding Lustre to the Mermaid Fountain
Attributed to Waldo Storey (d.1915), the Mermaid Fountain sits in the centre of the Italian Garden. At the time, the fountain had not been cleaned or repaired for many years, resulting in a thick layer of limescale covering its waxed bronze sculptures and gilded elements.
Nick Cox Architects were involved in commissioning a specialist conservator to produce a condition report and to carry out cleaning and waxing trials to construct an approach to its cleaning and restoration. Works were then carried out to clean the fountain fully, to re-wax the bronze, and to re-gild the dolphins, cherub wings, Venus’ cloak and her crown.Â
Restoring Rosamund’s Well
Set in the parkland of Blenheim Palace, Rosamund’s Well was allegedly built by Henry II in the twelfth century as a bathing place for his mistress, Rosamund Clifford. The structure has a stone wall with a slight curved form and a canted stone plinth accommodating the water outlet of the well; this is connected to a stone-bounded water pool. The stonework includes historical graffiti from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
Suffering from weather damage and invasive plant growth, the back wall of the well urgently required stabilising and restoration. We oversaw the careful dismantling and rebuilding of some parts of the wall, along with stonework repairs and replacement. The well’s metal grille was refurbished, and the wall was repointed and recapped with lime mortar.Â