The REFRESH Project: Historical water management at Blenheim Palace

The REFRESH (Water Cycle for Resilient Heritage) project, funded by the AHRC and Belmont Forum, investigates how the water cycle affects the conservation and resilience of cultural heritage sites under changing climate conditions. Working across four case studies: the Louvre Palace (France), Gruuthusemuseum (Belgium), Doge’s Palace (Italy) and Blenheim Palace (UK),the project addresses how historical hydraulic systems might inform contemporary water and energy management for future-resilient heritage sites. This poster presents pre-liminary findings from the first, exploratory phase at the Blenheim Palace, which examines how water has been managed historically across the 300-year evolution of the site. Through extensive archival research (maps, ledgers, correspondences, architectural and landscape plans, drawings, etc.) and oral histories with Palace staff and consultants, this phase reconstructs the design, function, and transformation of hydraulic systems. The analysis focuses on how these systems have corresponded to the climatic conditions and landscape changes such as aridity, drought and floods and how traditional practices might inform contemporary conservation and sustainability strategies. Preliminary findings suggest that Blenheim’s historical water systems reflect a dynamic interplay between engineering function, landscape design, and environmental adaptation in the past 300 years. These findings contribute to the wider REFRESH research framework by demonstrating how historical studies and stakeholder knowledge can support modelling and monitoring phases aimed at identifying climate adaptation solutions in line with conservation principles. By reinterpreting the past management of water as a resource for future resilience, this work highlights the value of heritage hydrology as a bridge between cultural heritage, environmental science, and climate adaptation.