Woodstock

Woodstock is a lovely village on the edge of the Cotswolds district, 13km (8 miles) north of Oxford, that is best known as the site of the World Heritage Site, Blenheim Palace.

Woodstock had been a popular spot for royalty for over 1000 years. Æthelred the Unready is said to have held an assembly here and Kings Henry I and II have both spent time around the town. More famously, Elizabeth I was imprisoned here before her accession to the throne.

From the 16th century, the town was noted for its glove-making industry but it was not until the early 18th century when Woodstock experienced its greatest changes when John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough was given land south of Woodstock where he began construction on what would become Blenheim Palace.

Nowadays, Woodstock is a small, but busy, town that thrives on tourism with almost one million people per year coming to visit Blenheim Palace.

Coming and going

Although it doesn’t have a railway station, Woodstock is easy to get to by public transport with the Stagecoach Gold bus route S3 stopping here en route between Oxford and Chipping Norton or Charlbury. Bus services from Oxford generally run every half hour.

If you do arrive by bus, make sure you hold on to your ticket as it gives you discounted entry to Blenheim Palace.

Sights and activities in Woodstock

Places to stay in Woodstock