Devizes: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 60 - 130 Castle Hotel
 Offering bright, modern rooms with private bathrooms, this 18th-century hotel is situated 25 minutes’ drive from Stonehenge. Guests can enjoy a min… More | ||||||
Devizes: Guide
Devizes is a town and civil parish in the England|English county of Wiltshire.
History
A Stephen of Blois and Empress Maud|Matilda in the 12th century. The castle held several important prisoners at various times, including Robert of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror in 1106. Robert was kept in Devizes for 20 years, before being moved to Cardiff. Whilst the castle is now gone Devizes still has two fine 12th century churches, St Mary's and St John's.
During the 12th century|12th and 13th century|13th centuries the town of Devizes developed outside the castle with craftsmen and traders setting up businesses to provide the residents of the castle with goods and services. The first known market in Devizes was in 1228. The original market place was in the large space outside St Mary’s Church, rather than in the current Eating Place, which at that time would have been within the castle’s outer bailey. The chief products in the 16th century|16th and early 17th century|17th centuries were wheat, wool and yarn, with cheese, bacon and butter increasing in importance later.
In 1643, during the English Civil War Parliamentary forces under Sir William Waller besieged Cavaliers (royalists)|Royalist forces under Sir Ralph Hopton in Devizes. However the siege was lifted by a relief force from Oxford under Lord Wilmot and Waller's forces were almost totally destroyed at the Battle of Roundway Down. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645 when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament and today little remains of it.
From the 16th century Devizes became known for its textiles, initially white wool|woollen broadcloth but later the manufacture of serge, drugget, felt and cassimere. From the end of the 18th century the manufacture of textiles declined, but other trades in the town included clock making, a bell foundry, booksellers, milliners, grocers and silversmiths. In the 18th century brewing, curing of tobacco and the manufacture of snuff were established in the town. Brewing still survives in the famous Wadworth (brewery)|Wadworth Brewery, but the tobacco and snuff trades have now died out.
The Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed between 1794 and 1810 and served to link Devizes with Bristol and London. Near Devizes the canal rises 237 feet by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railway, but has been restored, and is now used for leisure purposes.
In 1850 the Devizes Cricket Club|town's cricket club was established.
In 1857 the Somerset and Weymouth Railway opened a branch line from Holt Junction, on their line from Chippenham, Wiltshire|Chippenham to Weymouth, Dorset|Weymouth, to Devizes. In 1862 the Great Western Railway extended their Reading, Berkshire|Reading to Hungerford line to meet this line, providing a direct line from London to the West Country through Devizes. However the building of a by-pass line through Westbury, Wiltshire|Westbury removed most traffic from the Devizes line and it closed in 1966. Today the nearest railway stations are at Chippenham, Wiltshire|Chippenham or Pewsey.
The town is currently experiencing quite rapid housing growth, especially on its eastern fringe towards Andover, Hampshire|Andover.
Local government
Devizes is a civil parish, with an elected town council. It is also the administrative centre for the much larger Kennet|Kennet District Council, and falls within the area of the Wiltshire|Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972|Local Government Act coming into force in 1974, Devizes was a municipal borough.
In the 2001 census, the town had a population of 11,296.
Devizes is part of the Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes parliamentary constituency, which is currently held by Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Michael Ancram.
Location
Position: . Devizes lies almost 2° west of the Greenwich Meridian, with the two-degree line running through the western edge of the town. As this is the centre of the east-west extent of the Ordnance Survey mapping grid, True North and Grid north align exactly in Devizes.
Nearby towns and cities: Calne, Chippenham, Wiltshire|Chippenham, Marlborough, Wiltshire|Marlborough, Swindon, Salisbury, England|Salisbury, Andover, Hampshire|Andover, Tidworth, Wiltshire|Tidworth,
Nearby villages: Potterne, Roundway, Bishops Cannings, Bishops Cannings|Horton, Bishops Cannings|Coate, Etchilhampton, Wedhampton, Stert, Potterne, Poulshot, Seend, Rowde, All Cannings
Sport
Each year at Easter the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon is held on a course between Devizes and Westminster in London, a total distance of 125 miles. Its football team is Devizes Town F.C. and they play in the Western Football League.
See also
List of places in Wiltshire
List of civil parishes in England
List of towns in England
External links
12th Century Norman church.
Sources
, retrieved 18:15 Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
, retrieved 18:15 Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Devizes". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.