FIFTY years ago today Sir Winston Churchill died at his home in London.

The great wartime leader, who as both a statesman and a soldier had witnessed so much violence, died peacefully aged 90 with his wife Clementine and their children at his bedside.

On January 10 he had suffered a massive stroke and then spent 14 days in a coma. By a macabre coincidence he died 70 years to the day after his father, Lord Randolph Churchill.

It was almost a decade since he had left Downing Street and 25 years since his “Finest Hour” in the Second World War, yet men and women all over the world wept on hearing the news.

Many assumed that after a state funeral he would be laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral or Chartwell, his country home in Kent.

But in his will he had asked to be buried in the Oxfordshire village of Bladon, just beyond the park walls of Blenheim Palace, where he was born.

His daughter Mary Soames would recall: “When he had visited Bladon churchyard, where his parents and brother Jack already lay, he told Clementine that he would like to be buried there with them.

“Accordingly it was arranged that following the funeral service at St Paul’s his coffin would be borne by river to Waterloo, and from the station by train to Long Hanborough.”

Our top stories

The Palace in Woodstock was built in the 1700s for the famed Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, an ancestor of the two-time Prime Minister.

But despite the family connection, Sir Winston was born in Blenheim Palace quite by accident.

His mother Jennie Jerome was visiting the great house in 1874 with her husband Lord Randolph Churchill when she went into labour.

But the ancestral roots to the palace must have anchored him to Oxfordshire, for as well as requesting to be buried in the county, he also chose Blenheim Palace as his wedding venue.

Sir Winston even proposed to Lady Churchill, Clementine Hozier, in the Temple of Diana summerhouse in the gardens of his beloved palace in 1908. The two were married there later that year.

It seems fitting that Sir Winston, who was quoted as saying: “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” was eventually buried close to the palace grounds.

During the first few days of Churchill’s illness, crowds of people who had heard the news gathered anxiously at the top of the quiet Kensington cul-de-sac, waiting to hear news of the nation’s treasured statesman.

When the announcement finally came days later, the assembly had dispersed and only a handful of journalists remained.

News of his death was announced on the BBC shortly after 8am and within half-an-hour of the broadcast, crowds of mourners began to congregate near his home to pay homage.

Among the throng were the servicemen who Churchill had attempted to inspire with his defiance, his strength and his words during the darkest days of World War Two.

The television and radio programmes of the day had to be cancelled and re-scheduled to make way for tributes to Sir Winston.

Lady Churchill and Mary Soames had been by his side throughout his illness.

At 7am, members of the family were summoned to his bedside. His son Randolph and grandson Winston were the first to arrive, followed by his actress daughter Lady Sarah Audley and her daughter Celia Sandys. Newspapers at the time reported the family members looking "pale and drawn".

Sir Winston, who had been godfather to the Duke of Marlborough, was laid in state in Westminster Hall – an honour that had not been bestowed on any English statesman since William Gladstone in 1898. A total of 321,360 people visited to pay their respects.

The late Duke of Marlborough, Sir Winston’s godson, was among those to accompany his godfather’s body on its final journey to Bladon 50 years ago.

The Duke, who died in October aged 88, recalled the day in an interview with the Oxford Mail: “There were lots of people standing on the platforms. But what I always remember is the sight of people just standing in the fields as the train passed, with their heads bowed.”

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.