WOODSTOCK, a town and municipal borough in Oxford shire, England, 8 m. N.W. of Oxford and the terminus of a branch of the G.W. railway. Pop. (1931) 1,484. The River Glyme divides the town into New and Old Woodstock. The church of St. Mary Magdalene, in New Woodstock, is Norman but has additions in later styles, and a west tower built in 1785.
After the battle of Blenheim the manor of Woodstock was bestowed in perpetuity on John, duke of Marlborough. In 1723 it was destroyed and the site levelled .af ter the erection of Blen heim house, a mansion erected by parliament for the duke of Marlborough in consideration of his military services, and especially his decisive victory at Blenheim. The sum of isoo,000 was voted for the purchase of the manor and the erection of the building, erected by Sir John Vanbrugh (q.v.), in a heavy Italo
Corinthian style. The magnificent park contains Fair Rosa mund's well, near which stood her bower. On the hill stands a column commemorating the duke.
Domesday describes Woodstock as a royal forest; it was a royal seat from early times and Aethelred is said to have held a council there, and Henry I. to have kept a menagerie in the park. Woodstock was the scene of Henry II.'s courtship of Rosamund Clifford ("Fair Rosamund"). It was a favourite royal residence until the Civil War, when the manor house was destroyed.
See Rev. E. Marshall, Early History of Woodstock Manor (Oxford, 1873) ; Adolphus Ballard, Chronicles of Royal Borough of Woodstock; Victoria County History, Oxfordshire.