Editing Blenheim Palace (section)

===Palace chapel===
The palace chapel, as a consequence of the Duke's death, now obtained even greater importance. The design was altered by the Marlboroughs' friend the [[Earl of Godolphin]], who placed the high altar in defiance of religious convention against the west wall, thus allowing the dominating feature to be the Duke's gargantuan tomb and [[sarcophagus]]. Commissioned by the Duchess in 1730, it was designed by [[William Kent]], and statues of the Duke and Duchess depicted as [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] and Caesarina adorn the great sarcophagus. In [[bas relief]] at the base of the tomb, the Duchess ordered to be depicted the surrender of [[Camille d'Hostun, duc de Tallard|Marshal Tallard]]. However, the theme throughout the palace of honouring the Duke did not reach its apotheosis until the dowager duchess's death in 1744. Then, the Duke's coffin was returned to Blenheim from its temporary resting place, [[Westminster Abbey]], and husband and wife were interred together and the tomb erected and completed.<ref name="Henrietta">Henrietta Spencer-Churchill</ref> Now Blenheim had indeed become a pantheon and mausoleum. Successive Dukes and their wives are also interred in the vault beneath the chapel. Other members of family are interred in [[St Martin's Church, Bladon|St. Martin's parish church]]yard at [[Bladon]], a short distance from the palace.<ref>Vanderbilt Balsan.</ref>