Heatwave reveals lost 300-year-old garden at Britain’s ‘Greatest Palace’ that was once home to Winston Churchill

A HEATWAVE has revealed a long lost 300-year-old garden at Britain’s “Greatest Palace” – that was once home to Winston Churchill. The recent spell of hot and dry weather has uncovered a hidden outline of an 18th century parterre at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. A heatwave has revealed long lost gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire Credit: SWNS The hot and dry weather has uncovered gardens hidden for over three centuries Credit: SWNS The term parterre is taken from the French word meaning “on the ground”. It refers to an ornamental garden arranged around flower beds, paths and symmetrical patterns. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The original parterre was created in 1705 by royal gardener Henry Wise and stretched across the full width of the palace, surrounded by a high stone wall. Recent heatwave conditions revealed the outline of Blenheim’s lost garden, which was dismantled by landscape gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown when he transformed the gardens in the 1760s. Blenheim Palace was the birth place of Sir Winston Churchill Credit: SWNS Blenheim castle and its gardens pictured before the heatwave Credit: Alamy The sudden appearance of the buried garden has offered staff and historians a unique opportunity to study a landscape that has not been visible for centuries. Andy Mills, Head Gardener at Blenheim Palace, said the conditions had provided an extraordinary glimpse into the estate’s past. “The excessively dry weather has given us a fascinating bird’s-eye view into Blenheim’s past, allowing us to trace the intricate design and scale of the original parterre,” Andy said. “It’s a brilliant reminder of the formal gardens that came before and the layers of history that continue to shape the Palace’s landscape.” Most read in The Sun Andy has a 10-year-plan to restore the gardens to their former glory. He plans on reintroducing features and elements that have disappeared over the last three centuries. The work will be the biggest shake up to the 90 acres of gardens in over 100 years. The palace was built in the early 18th century as a reward to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, for his victory at the Battle of Blenheim. The heatwave in Wales has revealed dozens of unknown archaeological sites Credit: RCAHMW A long-lost tomb as ancient as the Pyramids has been exposed near Welshpool, in mid-Wales Credit: WNS The site remains the ancestral home of the Dukes of Marlborough. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is also famous as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, who was born there in 1874. Elsewhere, in Wales the scorching heatwaves has revealed a long-lost tomb as ancient as the Pyramids. Incredible shots taken from above reveal the outline of the 5000-year-old burial mound, once used by ancient Britons. The mound would have served as a communal burial site and sacred gathering space during the neolithic age, the final phase of the Stone Age. It is believed bodies were left outside of the barrow to decompose, before the cleaned bones were moved inside the stone chambers. Aerial archaeologist Dr Toby Driver spotted the barrow in the parched landscape of Welshpool in mid-Wales. Toby described the image as a “remarkable” cropmark of a “rectangular Neolithic long barrow” dating back several millenia. According to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, its size can be determined by the tractor lines in the field.