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60-531: The Wiltshire Museum , formerly known as Wiltshire Heritage Museum and Devizes Museum , is a museum, archive and library and art gallery established in 1874 in Devizes , Wiltshire , England. The museum was created and is run by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society , a registered charity founded in 1853. The society bought a former grammar school on Long Street, south of

120-582: A plesiosaur called Bathyspondylus found at Swindon in 1774. Bathyspondylus swindoniensis was first described in 1982 from the museum's specimens. Since 2013, a permanent exhibition Gold from the Time of Stonehenge displays 30 pieces of Early Bronze Age gold, including the Bush Barrow finds. The museum held a major exhibition of works by Eric Ravilious titled Eric Ravilious: Downland Man from September 2021 until January 2022. It featured loans from

180-547: A daily National Express coach service to and from London Victoria, via Heathrow Airport. There is a regular bus service to and from Stonehenge . Devizes is approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the M4 . Several main roads pass through the town, including the A360 , A361 and A342 . The Kennet and Avon Canal was built under the direction of John Rennie between 1794 and 1810, linking Devizes with Bristol and London. Near Devizes

240-406: A mighty crossing tower ...". The western part of the church was rebuilt in the 15th century. restoration was carried out in 1844 and 1862–3, including the west front designed by Slater . The ornate Beauchamp south chapel is similar to the 1492 Beauchamp and Tocotes chapel at Bromham ; the north Lamb chapel has a fine panelled ceiling. The organ case is late 17th century. St. Mary's was built in

300-773: A number of institutions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum , the British Museum , the Imperial War Museum and the Towner Gallery , as well as works from private collections. Since 2018, there has been an intention to relocate the museum to the former Devizes Assize Court in the northwest quarter of Devizes town centre. In June 2023, Wiltshire Museum received £300,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to enable

360-707: A number of private schools, beginning in the 18th century and proliferating in the 19th. Brownston House , a Grade I listed building, was the home of Miss Bidwell's Ladies Boarding School from 1859 to 1901. A private Devizes Grammar School was established in Heathcote House in 1874 by the Reverend S.S. Pugh and carried on until 1919 by his twin sons. The closest third-level institution is the University of Bath . Devizes has four Church of England parish churches , and has had nonconformist congregations since

420-445: Is a Community Special School for boys aged 11–16. Braeside is an outdoor education centre run by Wiltshire Council. Devizes has six primary schools: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Southbroom St James Academy, Southbroom Infants' School, Wansdyke Community School, Nursteed Community Primary School and The Trinity CofE (VA) Primary School. Nearby is Rowde CofE Primary Academy in the adjacent village of Rowde . Long Street has had

480-549: Is claimed to be site of the 18th-century Moonrakers story which led to a colloquial name for Wiltshire people. In 1794, a meeting at the Bear Hotel decided to raise a body of ten independent troops of yeomanry in the county of Wiltshire. These would later be brought together to form the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry , the senior yeomanry regiment. In 1810 the county militia, quartered at Devizes, mutinied and

540-438: Is now at the heart of Devizes School . The town was a coaching stop for mail coaches and stagecoaches on the road from London to Bristol , as evidenced by the number of coaching inns in the town. The Kennet and Avon Canal, fully open by 1810, passes close to the centre of the town. The town gained a railway station in 1857 but the line was closed in 1966. In 1853 the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

600-534: Is the starting point of the annual Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon . National Cycle Route 4 follows the canal towpath through the town. Devizes School , a secondary school with a sixth form, takes pupils from the town and surrounding area. It is situated in the grounds of the Southbroom House estate and the Grade II listed house forms its administrative core. Downland School

660-591: The Levellers and the apocalyptic Christian movement of the Fifth Monarchists . Some Puritans (but by no means all of them) wore their hair closely cropped round the head or flat. There was thus an obvious contrast between them and the men of courtly fashion , who wore long ringlets . During the war and for a time afterwards, Roundhead was a term of derision, and in the New Model Army it

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720-532: The Local Government Act took effect in 1974, Devizes was a municipal borough with its headquarters at Devizes Town Hall . It then became the administrative centre for the much larger District of Kennet , until that was abolished as part of the 2009 structural changes . The town has four electoral wards . The North and East wards follow the boundaries of the civil parish, while Devizes and Roundway South ward extends southward to include part of

780-691: The Royal Wessex Yeomanry , based in Old Sarum and Swindon respectively. A new Devizes Prison , or County House of Corrections, was opened in 1817. This replaced the Bridewell that had been built in Bridewell Street in 1579. The new prison was built of brick and stone, and was designed by Richard Ingleman as a two-storey polygon surrounding a central governor's house. It had an operational life of more than ninety years and

840-569: The Scottish against Parliament. England's many Puritans and Presbyterians were almost invariably Roundhead supporters, as were many smaller religious groups such as the Independents . However, a number of Roundheads were members of the Church of England , as were most Cavaliers . Roundhead political factions included the proto-anarchist/socialist Diggers , the diverse group known as

900-442: The 12th century to serve the town outside the castle walls. Only the chancel survives, the rest being rebuilt in the 15th century, including the fine west tower. The east window is from 1852, and there was restoration in 1854 ( Carpenter and Slater) and 1875–6. Since c. 2010, St. Mary's Parochial Church Council have been exploring conversion of the church into a performance and community venue. Roundhead Roundheads were

960-434: The 17th century. The two 12th-century churches, St. John's and St. Mary's, are Grade I listed buildings. They serve the parish of St. John with St. Mary which has always had one rector. St. John's stands close to Devizes Castle and may have begun as its chapel. The oldest parts of the building are from 1130, shortly after Roger, Bishop of Salisbury rebuilt the castle. Pevsner writes "A major Norman church, dominated by

1020-828: The Anarchy , a 12th-century civil war between Stephen of England and Empress Matilda , and again during the English Civil War when the Cavaliers lifted the siege at the Battle of Roundway Down and the Parliamentarian Army of the West under Sir William Waller was routed. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle

1080-513: The Anglican Archbishop William Laud made a statute in 1636 instructing all clergy to wear short hair, many Puritans rebelled to show their contempt for his authority and began to grow their hair even longer (as can be seen on their portraits ) though they continued to be known as Roundheads. The longer hair was more common among the "Independent" and "high-ranking" Puritans, which included Cromwell, especially toward

1140-543: The Conqueror . The town has had churches since the 12th century and today has four Church of England parish churches . During the 12th and 13th centuries, the town of Devizes developed outside the castle with craftsmen and traders setting up businesses to serve the residents of the castle. The first known market in Devizes was in 1228. The original market was in the large space outside St Mary's Church, rather than in

1200-525: The Corn Exchange was built in 1857, the trade in wheat and barley was conducted in the open, with sacks piled around the market cross . The cross erected in 1814 displays the tale of a woman, Ruth Pierce, who dropped dead suddenly after being discovered cheating. Prosperous wool merchants built town houses in St. John's and Long Street, and around the market place. From the end of the 18th century

1260-527: The Grade II* listed former Devizes Assize Court , northwest of the town centre, where facilities for community events will also be provided. There was a military presence in the town at Le Marchant Barracks , from 1878 until the 1980s. In 1999, a hill figure of a white horse was cut onto a hill close to Roundway Hill . Known as the Devizes White Horse , it replaced an earlier one which

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1320-520: The Green in Devizes is a Grade II* listed building; its history is associated with the church and education. No 8 Long Street was the house of the clothier Samuel Powell, as well as Admiral Joseph Tayler , one of the inspirations for C.S. Forester 's fictional hero Horatio Hornblower . Southbroom House , close to the Green, was built in 1501, then burnt down and was rebuilt by the Eyles family in 1772; it

1380-605: The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry were called out to quell the disturbances. The mutiny came to a head when the two forces faced off against each other with loaded firearms in the Market Square, at which point the militia ringleaders surrendered. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry went on to serve at home and abroad, including in the Boer War , both World Wars, and live on as B (RWY) Squadron and Y (RWY) Squadron of

1440-546: The Wharf Theatre, a former warehouse alongside canal. The local radio station is Fantasy Radio, a community radio station that broadcasts on 97 FM. The Gazette and Herald is the town’s local weekly newspaper. In 1857 the Great Western Railway built its Devizes branch line eastward to Devizes, from Holt Junction on its Chippenham - Weymouth line, to Devizes railway station just south of

1500-531: The air – the public are invited into the Market Place to throw as much confetti as possible at one another. The annual Devizes Arts Festival has a broad spectrum of musical events, poets and authors, literary talks, comedians and other performers. Each autumn, the Devizes Food and Drink Festival includes opportunities to dine in unusual places. There is an active thespian community that performs at

1560-436: The canal rises 237 feet (72 m) by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill . In the early days the canal was lit by gas lights at night, enabling boats to negotiate the locks at any time of day. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railways in the 1840s, but was restored between 1970 and 2003 for leisure uses. The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust run a museum at The Wharf in Devizes. The town

1620-587: The castle. 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. Towns close to Devizes include Melksham , Pewsey , Calne and Westbury . Suburbs of the town include Hartmoor, Jump Farm, Northgate, Nursteed, Roundway , Southbroom and Wick . Devizes is a civil parish with an elected town council . As of 2024 , 11 councillors are Devizes Guardians , 7 Conservatives , 1 Labour and 2 Independent. The parish includes

1680-466: The country/kingdom. Most Roundheads sought constitutional monarchy in place of the absolute monarchy sought by Charles; however, at the end of the English Civil War in 1649, public antipathy towards the king was high enough to allow republican leaders such as Oliver Cromwell to abolish the monarchy completely and establish the Commonwealth of England . The Roundhead commander-in-chief of

1740-410: The current Market Place , which at that time would have been within the castle's outer bailey. The chief products in the 16th and early 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 Royalist forces under Sir Ralph Hopton in Devizes. The siege

1800-476: The early 18th century. In the centre of the Market Place is the Market Cross , rebuilt in 1814 to designs of James Wyatt . Brownston House is another Grade I house, on New Park Street; it has been home to four MPs and two Army Generals from 1700, and housed a young ladies' boarding school from 1859 to 1901. It was conserved in 1976 by Wiltshire Council and is now a business head office. Heathcote House on

1860-605: The end of the Protectorate, while the "Presbyterian" (non-Independent) faction, and the military rank and file, continued to abhor long hair. By the end of that period, some Independent Puritans were again derisively using the term Roundhead to refer to the Presbyterian Puritans. Roundhead remained in use to describe those with republican tendencies until the Exclusion Crisis of 1678–1681, when

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1920-436: The first Civil War, Thomas Fairfax , remained a supporter of constitutional monarchy, as did many other Roundhead leaders such as Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester , and Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex ; however, this party was outmanoeuvred by the more politically adept Cromwell and his radicals, who had the backing of the New Model Army and took advantage of Charles' perceived betrayal of England in his alliance with

1980-493: The first time a joint parish council; at the same time, adjustments to the boundary with Bishops Canning were made. The town is within the area of the Wiltshire Council unitary authority , on which the four elected members for Devizes are Conservatives . Most significant local government services are the responsibility of Wiltshire Council, while the town and parish councils have a more consultative role. Before

2040-416: The hair of their heads very few of them longer than their ears, whereupon it came to pass that those who usually with their cries attended at Westminster were by a nickname called Roundheads ". The demonstrators included London apprentices, for whom Roundhead was a term of derision, because the regulations which they had agreed to included a provision for closely cropped hair. According to John Rushworth ,

2100-545: The historic Shambles, off the market square. There are over 70 independent retailers in the town centre, many around the Market Place, Little Brittox and Brittox (both pedestrianised), and in Sidmouth Street. At the town's wharf on the canal, the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust has a small museum and cafe. Construction of the new Devizes Health Centre, a 1,588sq m, two-storey building, began in 2021. This will replace

2160-476: 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 snuff -making were established in the town. Brewing survives in the Wadworth Brewery , but the tobacco and snuff trades have now died out. The pond known as The Crammer, east of the town centre,

2220-533: The market place. In 1862 GWR extended the Reading-Hungerford line westward to meet this line, providing a direct route between Paddington and the West Country through Devizes. Pans Lane Halt , southeast of the town in the suburb of Wick , opened in 1929. The building of a by-pass line through Westbury in 1900 diverted most traffic from the Devizes line and British Rail closed it in 1966;

2280-542: The museum – working closely with the Assize Court Trust – to develop plans for the project before applying for a full National Lottery grant in 2025. Devizes Devizes ( / d ɪ ˈ v aɪ z ɪ z / ) is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire , England. It developed around Devizes Castle , an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during

2340-477: The original Roundway parish, the remainder of which makes up the fourth ward, Roundway. The total population of these wards at the 2011 census was 12,491 but in 2017 with the addition of Roundway as the fourth ward, the population grew to over 17,700. Devizes is part of the Melksham and Devizes Westminster constituency, created following boundary changes and first contested at the 2024 general election, when it

2400-538: The prehistoric collections are items from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site . Several of the collections have been designated as being a significant part of England's cultural heritage . One of the most important collections at the museum is the finds from Bush Barrow , an early Bronze Age burial mound in the Stonehenge area. The barrow was excavated by William Cunnington in 1808 and produced

2460-408: The present structure is from the 19th century. From the 16th century, Devizes became known for its textiles: initially white woollen broadcloth but later the manufacture of serge , drugget , felt , and cassimere or Zephyr cloth . In the mid 18th century, Devizes held the largest corn market in the West Country of England and also traded hops, cattle, horses and various types of cloth. Before

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2520-509: The richest and most important finds from a Bronze Age grave in the Stonehenge Landscape to date. The finds were acquired by the museum in 1883 and were displayed there until 1922, when they were indefinitely loaned to the British Museum . After a controversial restoration of the largest piece that may not reflect its original finish, the pieces were returned to Devizes in 1985. The natural history collection includes remains of

2580-417: The roundheaded man was. The principal advisor to Charles II , Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon , remarked on the matter, "and from those contestations the two terms of Roundhead and Cavalier grew to be received in discourse, ... they who were looked upon as servants to the king being then called Cavaliers , and the other of the rabble contemned and despised under the name of Roundheads ." After

2640-506: The services at Devizes Community Hospital and provide a range of outpatient and GP services. There is a lively arts and culture community in the town, with the Arts Council funded Devizes International Street Festival attracting thousands to the town for two weeks leading up to August Bank Holiday each year, beginning with a long-standing "confetti battle" where, at a given signal – usually cannons firing confetti hundreds of metres into

2700-465: The small settlement of Dunkirk , on the northeastern slopes of the hill, which was transferred from Rowde parish in 1835. Much of the built-up area of the town, to the north, east, and south, is within the neighbouring civil parish of Roundway , while a smaller part is in Bishops Cannings parish, and each of those has its own parish council. In April 2017, Roundway and Devizes elected for

2760-522: The station was demolished soon after. Today the nearest railway stations are at Melksham , Chippenham and Pewsey , although as of 2020 there is a proposal to open a station on the Westbury line at Lydeway , 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (4 km) southeast of the town. Devizes has bus connections to surrounding towns including Swindon (via Avebury ), Trowbridge , Salisbury , Bath and Chippenham , each of which have rail services. Devizes also has

2820-546: The supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians , they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who claimed rule by absolute monarchy and the principle of the divine right of kings . The goal of the Roundheads was to give to Parliament the supreme control over executive administration of

2880-456: The town in 1875. Standing at the west edge of the Vale of Pewsey , Devizes is about 10.5 miles (16.9 km) southeast of Chippenham and 11 miles (18 km) north-east of the county town of Trowbridge . The town has nearly five hundred listed buildings , some notable churches, a town hall and a green in the centre. Devizes Castle was built by Osmund , Bishop of Salisbury in 1080, but

2940-478: The town is not mentioned in the Domesday Book . Because the castle was on the boundaries of the manors of Rowde , Bishops Cannings and Potterne it became known as the castrum ad divisas ("the castle at the boundaries"), hence the name Devizes . On John Speed 's map of Wiltshire (1611), the town's name is recorded as The Devyses . The first castle on the site was of the motte and bailey form and

3000-515: The town's market place, to house the museum. It later expanded into two Georgian houses on either side, and still occupies these premises today. The museum maintains a collection covering the archaeology , art, history and natural history of Wiltshire. The collection covers periods of history from as far back as the Palaeolithic and also has Neolithic , Bronze Age , Roman , Saxon , Mediaeval and more recent historical artefacts. Among

3060-475: The word was first used on 27 December 1641 by a disbanded officer named David Hide. During a riot, Hide is reported to have drawn his sword and said he would "cut the throat of those round-headed dogs that bawled against bishops"; however, Richard Baxter ascribes the origin of the term to a remark made by Queen Henrietta Maria , the wife of Charles I, at the trial of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford , earlier that year. Referring to John Pym , she asked who

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3120-462: 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, and by the early 18th century it held the largest corn market in the West Country , constructing the Corn Exchange in 1857. In the 18th century, brewing , curing of tobacco, and snuff -making were established. The Wadworth Brewery was founded in

3180-459: Was a punishable offence to call a fellow soldier a Roundhead. This contrasted with Cavalier , a word used to describe supporters of the Royalist cause, but which also started out as a pejorative term. The first proponents used it to compare members of the Royalist party with Spanish Caballeros who had abused Dutch Protestants during the reign of Elizabeth I . However, unlike Roundhead, Cavalier

3240-487: Was closed in 1922. It stood on the north side of the Castle's Old Park, across the Kennet and Avon Canal by way of a bridge still called Prison Bridge. The House of Corrections was demolished by 1928. Devizes has more than 500 listed buildings, a large number for a town of its size. The Trust for Devizes has a Town Trail map which provides a guide to many of them. 17 Market Place is a substantial Grade I listed house from

3300-539: Was cut in 1845. In 2014, the town celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Market Cross, marked by Viscount Sidmouth and his cousin, High Sheriff of Wiltshire Peter Addington. Devizes lies about 90 miles (140 km) west-southwest of Central London , almost 2° west of the Greenwich Meridian , with the two-degree line running through the western edge of the town, just a few hundred yards west of

3360-529: Was founded in the town, and later opened a museum in Long Street. Now called the Wiltshire Museum , its collections are designated as being of national significance. The museum has extensive Bronze Age collections and includes finds from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site , including West Kennet Long Barrow , Marden Henge and Bush Barrow . There are plans to move the museum into

3420-546: Was later embraced by those who were the target of the epithet and used by them to describe themselves. "Roundheads" appears to have been first used as a term of derision toward the end of 1641, when the debates in Parliament in the Clergy Act 1640 were causing riots at Westminster . The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition quotes a contemporary authority's description of the crowd that gathered there: "They had

3480-434: Was lifted by a relief force from Oxford under Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester , 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, a process known as slighting , and today little remains of it; almost all of

3540-454: Was probably made of wood and earth, but this burnt down in 1113. A new castle was built in stone by Roger of Salisbury , Osmund's successor. Devizes received its first charter in 1141, permitting regular markets. The castle changed hands several times during the Anarchy , a civil war between Stephen of Blois and Matilda in the 12th century. The castle held important prisoners, including (from 1106) Robert Curthose , eldest son of William

3600-696: Was won by Brian Mathew for the Liberal Democrats . The council has twinning associations with Mayenne in France, Oamaru in New Zealand, Tornio in Finland, and Waiblingen in Germany. Devizes has always been a market town and the market square is still used for that purpose every Thursday, and for farmers' markets on the first Saturday of each month. Indoor traders set up each day in

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