Devizes

Devizes is a market town with a thousand year history. There was a castle built just outside the original settlement by the Bishop of Salisbury and it was described as Castrum ad divisas the castle of the boundaries as it was on the boundaries of more than one Parish. The town later became know by that name.

Devizes has had a colourful history and there was a major siege during the English civil war when the Royalist forces in the town were surrounded.

Like other towns in the area, Devizes became an important trading centre during the industrial revolution as part of the wool, cloth industry. It also had one of the largest agricultural markets in the west country, with its trade in hops leading to Wadworth Brewery, one of the countries best known becoming established in the town. With its new found wealth, a number of merchants houses were built and as a result today there are 500 listed buildings in Devizes.

The Kennet and Avon canal also runs through Devizes and exhibits one of the main engineering feats of canal construction at the time as the canal goes over Caen Hill using a system of 16 locks.

Devizes is a good location to walk around and explore and why not try some of the local Wadwoirth 6X brew.