St Martin's Church, Bladon

 

St Martin's Church in this part of the country is probably best known for being the final resting place for the Churchill family. Yes, those Churchills, of PM Winston fame.

The first church can be dated back to roughly the 11th or 12th century and is believed to have been demolished in 1802. There's a print of the original church in the current one which shows it had a Norman doorway on the south port which is what helped with the early era dating. Unfortunately, no records of the building between this date and its demolition date survive so we don't know if there was a second church, renovations, or a complete rebuild. We just know there was a medieval building on this site, that was a church, and it was demolished and replaced in 1802. John Randolph, the Bishop of Oxford had been petitioned by the parish for a new building due to the state of the old one which is what led to the new church in 1804.

The church was then rebuilt in places again in 1891 by the architect A.W. Blomfield and was financed by the rector Arthur Majendie which resulted in the church we see today. So it is strangely comforting to know that this church was the same when Churchill knew it to what we see now.

Moving onto that exact aspect, Blenheim Palace is the family seat of the dukes of Marlborough and also falls within the parish of St Martins. As such, the Spencer-Churchill family are buried here with the inclusion of the 10th Duke and his wife who are buried here unlike the other dukes who were laid to rest in the Palace's chapel.

Sir Winston Churchill had specifically asked to be buried at Bladon and after his state funeral at St Paul's in London he was brought to St Martin's. A very private burial then took place and his wife joined him in 1977 in the same tomb. His daughter, Marigold, who had died in 1921 and been buried in Kensal Green Cemetery was moved to join her parents in 2020, and of course the majority of the Churchill family are laid to rest here anyway including his immediate family. 

Churchill ended up with so many visitors paying their respects that in 1998 his tombstone had to be replaced as it had eroded. After eight years of the new one the same thing had happened causing a closure of the area containing the grave so that it could be cleaned at restored. We can confirm that the area is still fenced off but you can visit respectfully via the path in front, there is no need to touch these things!

St Martin's is a stunning church and to be honest we can see why our most famous Prime Minister wanted to be buried here. Of course it would already have been special to him due to his family being here, but it really is a 'chocolate box' sort of church. Everything is neat and clean and you start to wonder if it is even real! Inside they have dedications for their most famous grave and have put in quite the effort to raise funds to keep everything preserved which we respect. We'd tell everyone to visit if you are ever in Woodstock!