Not content with the natural environment, Vanbrugh dammed a small river to create several streams and islets. He built the Grand Bridge across the water, lining it up between the entrance to the Palace and the Victory Monument that punctuates the park.
Several generations later, Launcelot "Capability" Brown dammed the streams again, creating two large lakes for the 4th Duke of Marlborough. In the process, he also flooded the bottom of Vanbrugh's bridge. Still, the Duchess was probably pretty pleased about that. According to the story, the 4th Duke and his cronies enjoyed gambling, drinking and other 18th century masculine entertainments in the now flooded, once usable, rooms in the base of the bridge.
