Reputedly England’s smallest town, nestling in the shadows of the Chiltern Hills, Watlington offers a traditional market town welcome.

With origins dating back to the 6th century, the proximity of the Icknield Way, civil war connections, and mention in the Domesday Book, Watlington is certainly steeped in history. The fine 17th Century Town Hall is accompanied by many 16th century and Georgian buildings, as well as the venerable church of St Leonard’s. Watlington exhibits the specialist shops, pubs, small businesses, and great hospitality, which make it the very epitome of a small English Market town.

In 1664–65 Watlington Town Hall was built at the expense of Thomas Stonor. Its upper room was endowed by Stonor as a grammar school for boys, and in 1731 Dame Alice Tipping of Ewelme gave a further endowment to increase the number of pupils. In 1842 the town Vestry established a National School, which shared the same rooms in the town hall.

Sri Sarada Devi

After a family gathering in Banbury last March we planned to return later in the year to visit Broughton Castle and perhaps sample some pancakes in the Little Amsterdam Cafe. The occasion of Mr C’s birthday was the perfect to occasion to realise our plan.

We arrived in Banbury just in time for lunch and headed straight to the Little Amsterdam Cafe. As it was lunchtime I elected for something light and chose a pancake with hot raspberries and ice cream whilst Mr C chose chicken stilton and mushroom. I can confirm my pancake tasted as delicious as it looks in the photograph. After lunch we had a brief look around the town before heading off to Broughton Castle. We had timed our arrival to when it was just opening so were among the first to arrive.

We joined the back of the small queue of people purchasing tickets. There was a man talking incessantly about how he had only come to look at the castle because he thought it was only a ruin and now he now realised that it wasn’t and would buy the guidebook and come back with his wife another time. When a car drove down through the gateway to the property in what can only be called a rude manner he challenged the people inside it, ‘are you the owners?’ They were not, one of the passengers had a disability, this led to the man becoming even more rude and out of order grumbling at the staff about him being unfairly treated as he had been made to park his car in the car park and he was disabled.

Then he began a rant which did not make complete sense but was over the top. I think there had been a misunderstanding about his needs due to his disability. Some people just like to make life harder for themselves than it needs to be and then  to grumble and cause trouble.

I am not sure if he was able to resolve his issue with the member of staff who was trying to help him out but eventually he made his way back towards the car park and out of earshot. Peace and tranquillity resumed. After purchasing our tickets we decided to do a tour of the gardens first. The sun was out and we were unsure of what the weather would do later and also we thought that most visitors would do the house first making it quieter later also.

The gardens and grounds are delightful as is the castle, more accurately described as a fortified manor house. The house is interesting both architecturally and historically. The house has been in continuous ownership of the same family since 1377. The house is home to Lord and Lady Saye & Sele whose family name is Fiennes. When we had finished viewing the house we thought it necessary for a visit to the tea room where we opted to share a slice of orange cake accompanied by a refreshing drink. When we were suitably refreshed we visited the Parish Church of St Mary Broughton with North Newington before setting out on our journey homeward.

The return journey wasn’t pleasant; there were delays in the rush hour traffic. The SatNav initially told us we would arrive home at 18.30 and we had booked a meal reservation on the basis of this. A short while into our journey the arrival time had changed to 19.30 and then more alarmingly to 20.10. As the SatNav normally advises of shorter journey times (it has live traffic updates) we were a little puzzled that it had not provided any alternative route information and we didn’t feel that the arrival time was correct.

I made the bold decision (bearing in mind we are in congested traffic) and said I am going to reset our journey. Mr C said do it quickly then because we were at the point of making a choice of route. I complied and the SatNav recalculated and changed its original route advising that our arrival time would be 19.00.

Phew… We arrived home with just enough time to freshen up and chill out before it was time for our evening meal in the Ugly Duckling.

Previously referred to as the ’roundabout’, in 2012 the Roundel was restored and turned into a beautiful water feature.

The late 1890s and early 1900s saw the Roundel at its finest, but the 21st century saw this garden feature in need of restoration and rejuvenation. In early 2012, the 11th Duke of Malborough, with the generous support of the USA Blenheim Foundation, undertook the task of restoring the Roundel. The statue was restored , and an ornamental pond was created with 12 water jets added to create additional splendour.

The secluded secret garden is a nice tranquil place with winding pathways, ponds and streams.

As part of the commemoration of the tercentenery in 2004 of the Battle of Blenheim, the 11th Duke restored the garden, first laid down by his father; keeping much of the original layout while introducing many new features.

As a ‘garden for all seasons’, the mature and new plantings create interest throughout the year.*

*From the Blenheim Palace guidebook printed 2014

Blenheim Palace was built in the early 18th Century to celebrate the victory over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession.

In particular, it was built as a gift to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, the military commander who led the Allied forces in the Battle of Blenheim on 13th August 1704. It was Marlborough who personally received the surrender from Marshall Tallard, leader of the French forces, following the battle.

To honour the Duke’s heroics, Queen Anne granted his family the ruined Royal Manor and park at Woodstock, along with the promise of funds needed to build a house to mark the victorious occasion. In return, the Duke also ensured that the Palace became a monument to the Queen.

At Blenheim I took two very important decisions; to be born and to marry. I am content with the decision I took on both occasions…” Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill proposed to Clementine Hozier at the Temple of Diana on 11th August 1908.

The year 2015 marks many important anniversaries in relation to our ‘Greatest Briton’, Sir Winston Churchill. These include the 50th anniversary of his death, the 75th anniversary of his first becoming Prime Minister, and the 75th anniversary of his ‘Finest Hour’ at the Battle of Britain.

In this key anniversary year you can read up on all things Churchill from his history, events around the country and news on a new website that aims to centralise all activity.