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It’s a strange thing to want to pay my respects to a man who’s been dead for over fifty years. But when I visited Churchill’s birthplace at Blenheim Palace, it seemed only fitting to make an effort to go down the road and visit the place where he’s buried. I don’t know what I was expecting from the experience, but I wanted to see the place where my biggest hero was resting for eternity.
Most of the Churchill family are buried in their ancestral plot in the churchyard of St Martin’s in the village of Bladon, located next to the Blenheim Estate. We found the village easily enough on our way to Blenheim, but finding somewhere to park was a different matter entirely. We must have circled the town four times, looking for a suitable place to park. You can’t park at the church itself as it isn’t allowed. There is no parking there.
Luckily, we found parking on a side street. There’s a pub car park nearby as well – you’re not supposed to park there unless you’re a customer, but we saw plenty of people do it. It’s not like you’ll be at the grave for a long time. It was early enough in the day, so I don’t think anyone would have been bothered wherever we ended up parking.
The graveyard is a little bit of a trek up a hill, and you come up from behind. The yard would be a quiet, contemplative place if we didn’t go during recess time at the school next door. Still, it’s a beautiful setting for the grave of one of history’s greatest men.
The grave is rather understated for a man of his importance. A simple stone slab marks his resting place. When I visited, it was looking rather worn, but apparently, since I visited, it’s been spruced up a bit. There’s no statue or massive tomb like other famous British warriors like Nelson or Wellington. There are plenty of statues of Churchill elsewhere. Still, the plain stone burial plot is a moving tribute to the man; there are usually wreaths or flowers lying on the grave (feel free to bring your own). Many of the people he played a role in rescuing regularly will leave flowers regularly. A world is forever grateful.
I paid my respects to someone I admire greatly. It’s really something that meant a lot to me – as lame as it sounds.
After that, we went into the little church where they have a few things for sale on the honor system (leave the money in the box). I bought a few Churchill mementos – the money goes to help keep the church operating and then we were on our way. The church itself is rather charming, and it takes great pride as the stewards of Churchill’s grave. The proceeds from the honesty shop go to maintaining the graveyard.
When you go, we recommend visiting on a weekend since there’s a rather noisy school next to the cemetery. If you want to pay your quiet respects, the school day is not the time! The cemetery is open daily. There’s no charge but feel free to leave a donation in the church so they can continue to maintain the grave. I suppose you can walk from Blenheim if you were so inclined, but it’d be a rather long walk.
It’s a reminder that no matter our impacts on the world, we all end up in the same place, buried in the ground. Most people’s legacies are forgotten after a generation or two. The memories of history’s greatest figures will endure for eternity. 100 years from now, people will still visit Winston’s grave. 200. 300. What a legacy.
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