Blenheim Palace

The Saloon

This is the state dining-room, now used by the family on Christmas Day. The table is laid with a Minton service and with silver gilt. The silver centrepiece, standing on a separate table, shows Marlborough, still on horseback after his victory at the Battle of Blenheim, writing the famous dispatch, now displayed in the next state room. The murals and painted ceiling are the work of Louis Laguerre (1663-1721). His char ge was £500. Among the people he chose to caricature can be seen himself, neighboured by Dean Jones, Marlborough's chaplain, whom the Duchess disliked but tolerated because he could make the Duke laugh and would take a hand at cards.

The marble doorc ases were undertaken by Grinling Gibbons, but only one of them had been set up when in 1712 a halt was called. Though work was resumed in 1716, Gibbons never returned. He died in 1721. The overdoors are emblazoned with the two-headed eagle crest of the Du ke of Marlborough as a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

From the Saloon portico can be seen the site of the Great Parterre and beyond it the tower of Bladon Church, where Sir Winston Churchill, his wife and his parents are buried. It was from this po rtico that Sir Winston addressed a vast audience at a Conservative rally in August 947.

Between the Saloon and the Library are three interconnecting State Rooms.