Marlborough skillfully encouraged this apprehension by constructing bridges across the Rhine at Philippsburg, a ruse that not only encouraged Villeroi to come to Tallard's aid in the defence of Alsace, but one that ensured the French plan to march on Vienna remained paralysed by uncertainty.

Marlborough wrote an appeal to the Duke of Württemberg, the commander of the Danish contingent – " I send you this express to request your Highness to bring forward by a double march your cavalry so as to join us at the earliest moment …" Additionally, the King in Prussia, Frederick I, had kept his troops in quarters behind the Rhine while his personal disputes with Vienna and the States-General at The Hague remained unresolved.

Therefore, unbeknown to the French who remained oblivious to the Allies ’ real strength and intentions on the opposite side of the Petite Gheete, Marlborough was throwing his full weight against Ramillies and the open plain to the south.

Marlborough, in the meantime, remained in the Low Countries, where he was caught up in capturing an endless succession of fortresses.

They took the bell back to Marlborough, where it has remained.

FluxHousing Co-Operatives continued to redevelop the area over the next decade, and were widened to include plans to set up a FluxIsland-a suitable island was located near Antigua, but the money to buy and develop it remained unforthcoming-and finally a performance arts centre called the FluxFarm established in New Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Marlborough remained despondent about the general situation, but his optimism received a major boost with the arrival in theatre of Prince Eugene, his co-commander at Blenheim.

Throughout his travels Marlborough remained in close contact with the Electoral court of Hanover, determined to ensure a bloodless Hanoverian succession on Anne's death.

Marlborough had been kept well informed of events while in exile and had remained a powerful figure on the political scene, not least because of the personal attachment the Queen still retained for him.

Image: Marlborough Road Map Mockup. png | How Marlborough Road might have appeared on the London Underground Map today if it had remained open

The deaneries of the archdeaconry of Salisbury have remained unaltered ; Wiltshire archdeaconry now includes the deaneries of Avebury, Marlborough and Potterne ; and the deaneries of Chippenham, Cricklade and Malmesbury form part of the archdeaconry and diocese of Bristol.

Once the scene is set, Trevelyan skilfully builds up the tense story until it reaches its climax in the dramatic victory of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy at Blenheim.

Arapawa Island is a small island located in the Marlborough Sounds, at the north east tip of the South Island of New Zealand.

In any case, Marlborough had promised to return to the Netherlands if a French attack developed there, transferring his troops down the Rhine on barges at a rate of a day.

Also on 5 August, Eugene reached Höchstädt, riding that same night to meet with Marlborough at Schrobenhausen.

That same day Marlborough and Eugene carried out their own reconnaissance of the French position from the church spire at Tapfheim, and moved their combined forces to Münster – five miles ( 8 km ) from the French camp.

Marlborough quickly moved forward two brigades under the command of General Wilkes and Brigadier Rowe to secure the narrow strip of land between the Danube and the wooded Fuchsberg hill, at the Schwenningen defile.

With the French flanks busy, Marlborough could cross the Nebel and deliver the fatal blow to the French at their centre.

With the battle still not won, Marlborough had to rebuke one of his cavalry officers who was attempting to leave the field – " Sir, you are under a mistake, the enemy lies that way ..." Now, at the Duke's command, the second Allied line under von Bulow and the Count of Ost-Friese was ordered forward, and, driving through the centre, the Allies finally put Tallard's tired horse to rout, not without cost.

In February 1705, Queen Anne, who had made Marlborough a Duke in 1702, granted him the Park of Woodstock and promised a sum of £ 240, 000 to build a suitable house as a gift from a grateful crown in recognition of his victory – a victory which British historian Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy considered one of the pivotal battles in history, writing – " Had it not been for Blenheim, all Europe might at this day suffer under the effect of French conquests resembling those of Alexander in extent and those of the Romans in durability.

The Anglo-Dutch forces gained minor compensation for the failed Moselle campaign with the success at Elixheim and the crossing of the Lines of Brabant in the Spanish Netherlands ( Huy was also retaken on 11 July ), but a chance to bring the French to a decisive engagement had eluded Marlborough.

The year 1705 proved almost entirely barren for the Duke whose military disappointments were only partly compensated by efforts on the diplomatic front where, at the courts of Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Vienna, Berlin and Hanover, Marlborough sought to bolster support for the Grand Alliance and extract promises of prompt assistance for the following year ’ s campaign.

On 11 January 1706, Marlborough finally reached London at the end of his diplomatic tour, but he had already been planning his strategy for the coming season.

Villeroi still believed ( on 22 May ) the Allies were a full day ’ s march away when in fact they had camped near Corswaren waiting for the Danish squadrons to catch up ; for his part, Marlborough deemed Villeroi still at Jodoigne when in reality he was now approaching the plateau of Mont St. André with the intention of pitching camp near Ramillies ( see map at right ).

Marlborough wrote to Lord Raby, the English resident at Berlin: " If it should please God to give us victory over the enemy, the Allies will be little obliged to the King for the success.

The following day, at 01: 00, Marlborough dispatched Cadogan, his Quartermaster-General, with an advanced guard to reconnoitre the same dry ground that Villeroi ’ s army was now heading, country that was well known to the Duke from previous campaigns.

A crisis threatened the centre, but from his vantage point Marlborough was at once aware of the situation.

One account has it that the cannonball flew between the Captain-General ’ s legs before hitting the unfortunate colonel, whose torso fell at Marlborough ’ s feet – a moment subsequently depicted in a lurid set of contemporary playing cards.

The final Allied reinforcements for the cavalry contest to the south were at last in position ; Marlborough ’ s superiority on the left could no longer be denied, and his fast-moving plan took hold of the battlefield.

The Duke of Marlborough receives captured standards at Ramillies.

The 7th Duke of Marlborough was the paternal grandfather of the British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill ( who was born at Blenheim Palace on 30 November 1874 ).

In November 1267, parliament met at Marlborough.

After a brief pause, Marlborough ’ s equerry, Colonel Bringfield ( or Bingfield ), led up another of the Duke ’ s spare horses ; but while assisting him onto his mount, the unfortunate Bringfield was hit by an errant cannonball that sheared off his head.

To military historians David Chandler and Richard Holmes, Marlborough is the greatest British commander in history, an assessment that is shared by others, including the Duke of Wellington who could " conceive nothing greater than Marlborough at the head of an English army.

When Anne came to the throne after William's death in 1702, the Duke of Marlborough, together with Sidney Godolphin, the first Earl of Godolphin, rose to head the government, partly as a result of his wife's friendship with the queen.

It was his good fortune to govern the Austrian dominions and to be head of the Empire, during the years in which his trusted general, Prince Eugene of Savoy, either acting alone in Italy or with the Duke of Marlborough in Germany and Flanders, was beating the armies of Louis XIV of France.

The allied British, German and Dutch forces under the command of the Duke of Marlborough established their headquarters at Lillers until forced out by the Marquis de Goesbriand, the head of the French troops.

It sits at the head of Pelorus Sound, one of the Marlborough Sounds.

Breakneck Hill Road is where the older tracks of the Framingham, Southboro and Marlborough Street Railway split to head north to Marlborough and Hudson.

* Marlborough at the head of his troops

After securing Donauwörth on the Danube, Marlborough sought to engage the Elector's and Marsin's army before Marshal Tallard could bring reinforcements through the Black Forest.

Whilst Marlborough led his army, General Overkirk would maintain a defensive position in the Dutch Republic in case Villeroi mounted an attack.

Also determined to fight a major engagement, the Duke of Marlborough, commander-in-chief of Anglo-Dutch forces, assembled his army – some 62, 000 men – near Maastricht, and marched past Zoutleeuw.

With these reverses, the Dutch now refused to contemplate Marlborough ’ s ambitious march to Italy or, indeed, any plan that denuded their borders of the Duke and their army.

Marlborough later told Bishop Burnet that, ‘ the French army looked the best of any he had ever seen ’.

Moreover, this disposition – concave in relation to the Allied army – gave Marlborough the opportunity to form a more compact line, drawn up in a shorter front between the ‘ horns ’ of the French crescent ; when the Allied blow came it would be more concentrated and carry more weight.

" Malines, Lierre, Ghent, Alost, Damme, Oudenaarde, Bruges, and on 6 June Antwerp, all subsequently fell to Marlborough ’ s victorious army and, like Brussels, proclaimed the Austrian candidate for the Spanish throne, the Archduke Charles, as their sovereign.

* 1706 – Battle of Ramillies: John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal Villeroi.

In 1704, the French plan was to use Villeroi's army in the Netherlands to contain Marlborough, while Tallard and the Franco-Bavarian army under Max Emanuel and Ferdinand de Marsin, Villars's replacement, would march on Vienna.

Marlborough — ignoring the wishes of the Dutch, who preferred to keep their troops in the Low Countries — led the English and Dutch forces southward to Germany ; Eugene, meanwhile, moved northward from Italy with the Austrian army.

Burgundy's insistence that the French army not attack led Marlborough once again to unite his army with Eugene's, allowing the allied army to crush the French at the Battle of Oudenarde, and then proceeded to capture Lille.

Following the Capture of Emden he ordered the dispatch of the first British troops to the European continent under the Duke of Marlborough, who joined Brunswick's army.

* August 13 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Blenheim: Allied troops under John Churchill, the Earl of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat the Franco-Bavarian army.

* John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough is reinstated in the English army after a period in disgrace.

Anne gave control of the army to Lord Marlborough, whom she appointed Captain-General.

Harley's first concern was to find £ 300, 000 for the next quarter's pay for the British army operating in Europe under Marlborough.

Using his influence in Parliament and the army, Marlborough aroused dissatisfaction concerning William's preferences for foreign commanders, an exercise designed to force the King's hand.

Marlborough was given command of the English, Dutch, and hired German forces, but he had not as yet commanded a large army in the field, and had far less experience than a dozen Dutch and German generals who must now work under him.

However, the main event followed on 13 August when Marlborough – assisted by the Imperial commander, the able Prince Eugene of Savoy – delivered a crushing defeat on Marshal Tallard's and the Elector of Bavaria's army at the Battle of Blenheim.