A MEMORIAL garden marking the 50th anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s death will be created at his birthplace of Blenheim Palace.

Work has begun on creating the garden that will be completed by June next year to coincide with half a century since the wartime Prime Minister died.

The memorial, designed by landscape architect Kim Wilkie, will be placed next to the Temple of Diana, where Sir Winston proposed to Clementine Hozier in 1908.

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Blenheim Palace

The 12th Duke of Marlborough, Jamie Spencer-Churchill, said the project was the brainchild of his father, John Spencer-Churchill, before his death last month.

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The Duke, a distant relative of Sir Winston, said: “My father cared deeply about the creation of a memorial garden here at Blenheim Palace to celebrate the life of his cousin and godfather.

“He had spent a lot of time discussing every detail of the design and I am very much looking forward to working with Kim to ensure it is completed as he would have wished.”

Sir Winston was born at the palace on November 30, 1874, and spent much of his childhood there. He used it and its surroundings as inspiration for paintings.

During the Second World War he served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, and again as Conservative Premier from 1951 to 1955.

Sir Winston died on January 24, 1965 and is buried at St Martin’s Church in nearby Bladon, which can be seen from the palace.

The garden will feature a mixture of plants, flowers and a winding footpath with features representing Sir Winston’s life. It is 90m long, mirroring the years of his life, and each metre will relate to an event, such as his first day at Harrow School, aged 13.

The path will have banners of snowdrops, crocuses, poppies, cornflowers and coreopsis weaving along at different times of the year. A bust statue of Sir Winston on a stone bench will be placed on the path overlooking a lake below.

Mr Wilkie said: “Churchill was enormously fond of Blenheim Palace and it is an honour to design a memorial for the great man within the palace grounds he loved so much.”.

Next year is also the 75th anniversary of Sir Winston becoming Prime Minister.

Important steps in churchill’s life

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From top, Major Churchill, left, and Clementine Hozier, second right, (to become Lady Churchill), at party at the palace in 1907/08; the pair with first child Diana in 1909; with his wife in 1952; and a view from Churchill's resting place, the Parish church of St Martin, across the village of Bladon to Blenheim Palace 

Previous projects

Oxford Mail: Kim Wilkie has designed the Winston Churchill Memorial Garden      

Kim Wilkie’s previous projects have included redesigning Broad Street in Oxford from 2003 to 2005 and working on revamping Oxford Botanic Garden.
He is redesigning the Queen’s College gardens to simplify the spaces and make them easier to use.
Mr Wilkie has also been involved in producing a masterplan for the redesign of Hyde Park Corner in London, where he wants to create a focal point space in the centre that links St James’ and The Green Parks with Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
He is currently helping to completely redesign the grounds of the Natural History Museum in Oxford.

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