New house in Blenheim Park to give Duke 'privacy'

The current Duke and his heir live off-site at the moment

A grand new estate house will be built in Blenheim Park after the 12th Duke of Marlborough suggested the existing palace does not offer him enough privacy.

West Oxfordshire councillors granted permission for the home at Furze Platt which will cover 1.79 hectares (17,900 sq m) of land at the park in Woodstock.

An applicant planning paper said both the current Duke and his heir, the Marquess of Blandford, currently live off-site.

"While the 11th Duke lived in the Palace his successor and their heirs wish for more privacy and a more informal home," it added.

Councillors have approved plans for the home at Furze Platt which would cover 1.79 hectares (17,900 sq m) of land at the park in Woodstock near Blenheim Palace

Furze Platt has been identified as "the most appropriate site within the park in heritage terms for a new dwelling".

Proposed materials for the new building are natural limestone for the walls and Cardinal Stonesfield Slates for the roof, with timber forming the windows.

It will be built on former farmstead and woodland, coinciding with the conversion of an existing barn.

There were no objections from consultees to the proposal, which the planning agent described as a “rarity” owing to a “three-year process of careful evolution of the design” and "long period of consultation".

Blenheim Palace is a country house and is notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.