Devizes

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Devizes

Devizes is a small market town

Market town

Market town or market right is a law term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host Market, distinguishing them from villages and city....
and civil parish

Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
in the heart of the English

England

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a Ceremonial counties of England in the South West England of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire....
, in the southern United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
.

lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m1740417",this)' onMouseout='hide("m1740417")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Devizes_Castle">Devizes Castle

Devizes Castle

Devizes Castle was in the town of Devizes, Wiltshire, England .The first motte and bailey castle on this site was built in 1080 by Saint Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury....
was built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury

Bishop of Salisbury

The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the Counties of Wiltshire and Dorset....
in 1080. However the town is not mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror....
. Because the castle was located on the boundaries of the manor

Manor

The term manor may refer to:...
s of Rowde

Rowde

Rowde is a village and civil parish in the England county of Wiltshire....
, Bishops Cannings

Bishops Cannings

Bishops Cannings is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the England county of Wiltshire. The parish is the third largest in Wiltshire, and includes the settlements of Coate, Horton, Bourton and Easton in addition to Bishops Cannings itself....
and Potterne

Potterne

Potterne is a village in the England Counties of the United Kingdom of Wiltshire. The civil parish of Potterne includes the hamlet of Potterne Wick....
it became known as the castrum ad divisas or "the castle at the boundaries", hence the name Devizes. The original motte and bailey castle was probably a wood and earth construction, but this burnt down in 1113 and was rebuilt in stone by Roger of Salisbury

Roger of Salisbury

Roger was a Normans medieval bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England....
, Osmund's successor.

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Encyclopedia

Devizes is a small market town

Market town

Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
in the heart of the English

England

Wiltshire

United Kingdom

History

Devizes Castle

Bishop of Salisbury

Domesday Book

Manor

The term manor may refer to:...
s of Rowde

Rowde

Rowde is a village and civil parish in the England county of Wiltshire....
, Bishops Cannings

Bishops Cannings

Potterne

Roger of Salisbury

Roger was a Normans medieval bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England....
, Osmund's successor. Devizes received its first charter

Charter

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified....
in 1141 permitting regular markets. The castle changed hands several times during the civil war between Stephen of Blois

Stephen of England

Stephen often known as Stephen of Blois was a grandson of William I of England. He was the last Norman dynasty King of England, from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne jure uxoris....
and Matilda in the 12th century. The castle held several important prisoners at various times, including Robert of Normandy

Robert of Normandy

may refer to:* Rollo, occasionally known as Rollo the Viking, , founder and first ruler of Normandy* Robert II, Archbishop of Rouen, son of duke Richard I of Normandy...
, eldest son of William the Conqueror in 1106. Robert was kept in Devizes for 20 years, before being moved to Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian architecture Gothic revival mansion, transformed from a Norman architecture keep erected over a Roman fort in Cardiff, the Capital of Wales....
.

The town has four Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
parish church

Parish church

A parish church, in Christianity, is the local church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopalian church governance churches....
es. They are dedicated to St. John

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel....
, St. Mary, St. James and St. Peter. The last is an Anglo-Catholic church. There are also Methodist, Quaker, United Reformed, Assemblies of God

Assemblies of God

The World Assemblies of God Fellowship, or Assemblies of God for short, is the world's largest Pentecostal denomination, with over 283,413 churches and outstations in over 110 countries and approximately 57 to 60 million adherents worldwide....
, and Baptist

Baptist

A Baptist is a member of a Christian denomination characterized by the rejection of infant baptism in favor of believer's baptism by Baptism#Immersion....
churches in Devizes.

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 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

Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, wool

Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
and yarn

Yarn

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibers, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking....
, with cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
, bacon

Bacon

Bacon is a cut of meat taken from the sides, belly, or back of a pig, then Curing , Smoking , or both. Meat from other animals, such as beef, Lamb and mutton, chicken, goat, or turkey , may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon....
and butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
increasing in importance later.

In 1643, during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
Parliamentary

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
forces under Sir William Waller

William Waller

Sir William Waller , was an England soldier during the English Civil War. He received his education at Magdalen College, Oxford, and served in the Venice army and in the Thirty Years' War....
besieged Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Roundheads for a Royalist supporter of Charles I of England during the English Civil War . Prince Rupert of the Rhine, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical Cavalier....
forces under Sir Ralph Hopton in Devizes. However the siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by Battle of attrition and/or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit." A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a coup de main and refuses to surrender ....
was lifted by a relief force from Oxford

Oxford

Oxford is a City status in the United Kingdom, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. It has a population of 151,000. The rivers River Cherwell and River Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre....
under Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester

Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester

Lieutenant-General Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester was an England Cavalier who fought for the Cavalier cause during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms....
and Waller's forces were almost totally destroyed at the Battle of Roundway Down

Battle of Roundway Down

The Battle of Roundway Down was fought on 13 July 1643, during the English Civil War. A Cavalier cavalry force under Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester won a crushing victory over the Parliament of Englands under Sir William Waller who were besieging Devizes in central Wiltshire, which was defended by Ralph Hopton....
. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645 when Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English people Military history of the United Kingdom and Politics of England leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, a process known as slighting

Slighting

A slighting is the deliberate destruction of a fortification without opposition from its builders or last users.Many European castles or forts were slighted in the Middle Ages by victorious Siege armies....
, and today little remains of it.

From the 16th century Devizes became known for its textile

Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
s, initially white wool

Wool

Broadcloth

Broadcloth is a dense woolen textile. Modern broadcloth can be composed of cotton, silk, or polyester, but traditionally broadcloth was made solely of wool....
but later the manufacture of serge

Serge

Serge is a type of twill textile that has diagonal lines or ridges on both sides, made with a two-up, two-down weave. The worsted variety is used in making military uniforms, suit s, great and trench coats....
, drugget

Drugget

Formerly, a drugget was a sort of cheap Stuff , very thin and narrow, usually made of wool, or half wool and half silk or linen; it may have been corded or plain, and was usually plain....
, felt

Felt

Felt is a non-weave cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials....
and cassimere or Zephyr cloth

Zephyr cloth

Zephyr cloth, a thin kind of cassimere made in Belgium; also, a waterproof fabric of wool....
. In the early 18th century Devizes held the largest corn market in the West Country

West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
of England and also traded hops

Hops

Hops are the female flower cones, also known as strobiles, of the hop . They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and Herbalism....
, cattle

Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, horse

Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
s and various cloth. Wool

Wool

Merchant

Merchants function as professionals who deal with trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves, in order to produce profit....
s were able to build prosperous town houses in St. John's and Long Street and around the market place . From the end of the 18th century the manufacture of textiles declined, but other trades in the town included clock

Clock

A clock is an instrument used for indicating and maintaining the time and passage thereof. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic languages words clagan and clocca meaning "bell"....
making, a bell foundry

Foundry

A foundry is a factory which produces metal castings from either ferrous or non-ferrous metals alloys. Metals are turned into parts by melting the metal into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and then removing the mold material or casting....
, booksellers, milliners, grocer

Grocer

Beginning as early as the 14th century, a grocer was a dealer in comestible dry goods such as spices, pepper, sugar, and cocoa, tea and coffee....
s and silversmith

Silversmith

A silversmith is a person who works primarily making objects in solid silver; historically the training and guild organization of goldsmiths included silversmiths as well, and the two crafts remain largely overlapping....
s. In the 18th century brewing

Brewing

Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation . The term is used for the production of beer, although the word "brewing" is also used to describe the fermentation process used to create wine and mead....
, curing of tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines....
and the manufacture of snuff

Snuff

Snuff is ground or pulverized tobacco, which is generally insufflation or "snuffed" through the nose. It is a type of smokeless tobacco. There are several types, but traditionally it means Dry/European nasal snuff....
were established in the town. Brewing still survives in the Wadworth Brewery , but the tobacco

Tobacco

Snuff

Snuff is ground or pulverized tobacco, which is generally insufflation or "snuffed" through the nose. It is a type of smokeless tobacco. There are several types, but traditionally it means Dry/European nasal snuff....
trades have now died out.

The town was also a major coaching stop for Mail coach

Mail coach

In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. The Coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside....
es and stagecoaches on the road from London

London

Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
, as evidenced by the number of coaching inn

Coaching inn

In Europe, from approximately the mid 17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers....
s in the town, especially the famous Bear Hotel .

The Kennet and Avon Canal

Kennet and Avon Canal

The Kennet and Avon Canal is a canal in southern England. The name may refer to either the route of the original Kennet and Avon Canal Company, which linked the River Kennet at Newbury, Berkshire to the River Avon, Bristol at Bath, Somerset, or to the entire navigation between the River Thames at Reading, Berkshire and the Bristol Har...
was constructed under the direction of John Rennie

John Rennie

John Rennie may refer to:...
between 1794 and 1810 to link Devizes with Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
and London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. Near Devizes the canal rises 237 feet (72 m) by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill

Caen Hill Locks

Caen Hill Locks are a flight of Canal lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Devizes, Wiltshire England.The 29 locks have a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles or a 1 in 44 gradient....
. In the early days the canal was lit by gas lighting at night, enabling boats to negotiate the locks throughout any 24 hour period. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railway in the 1850s, but has been restored and is used for leisure. At Devizes Wharf the museum provides an insight.

In 1857 the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway

Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway

The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway was a broad gauge railway that linked the Great Western Railway at Chippenham, Wiltshire with Weymouth, Dorset, Dorset, England....
opened a branch line

Devizes branch

|}The Devizes Branch Line was a railway line from the Holt, Wiltshire to Pewsey, Wiltshire, and named after Devizes, the largest town on the line....
from Holt Junction, on their line from Chippenham

Chippenham, Wiltshire

Chippenham is a market town in Wiltshire, England, located at , some 21 km east of Bath, Somerset and 163 km west of London. In the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population of the town was recorded as 28,065....
to Weymouth, to Devizes. In 1862 the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a History of rail transport in Great Britain that linked London with the south west and west of England and most of Wales....
extended their Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a town in England, located at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, midway between London and Swindon off the M4 motorway....
to Hungerford

Hungerford

Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 10 miles west of Newbury, Berkshire. It covers an area of and, according to the United Kingdom Census 2001, has a population of 5,700 ....
line to meet this line, providing a direct line from London

London

West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
through Devizes. However the building of a by-pass line through Westbury

Westbury, Wiltshire

Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the England county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse....
removed most traffic from the Devizes line and it closed in 1966. Today the nearest railway stations are at Chippenham

Chippenham, Wiltshire

Pewsey

Pewsey is a large village in Wiltshire with a population of 3,237 people located approximately 80 miles west of London. It is well connected for London, the West Country and Wales being close to the M4 motorway and the A303....
.

The town is experiencing rapid housing growth, especially on its eastern fringe towards Andover

Andover, Hampshire

Andover is a town in the England county of Hampshire. The town is situated on the River Anton some 18.5 miles west of the town of Basingstoke, 18.5 miles north-west of the city of Winchester and 25 miles north of the city of Southampton....
and a new small shopping centre will be opening in Spring 2009 at the north end of the market place.

Local government

Devizes is a civil parish

Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
, with an elected town council

Town council

A town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipality or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
. It is also the administrative centre for the much larger Kennet District Council, and falls within the area of the Wiltshire County Council

Wiltshire

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in the United Kingdom in England and Wales, on 1 April 1974....
coming into force in 1974, Devizes was a municipal borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002....
.

In the 2001 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population....
, the town had a population of 11,296 (2006 est. 13,300).

Devizes is part of the Devizes parliamentary constituency

Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)

Devizes is an England constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
, which is currently held by Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom....
Michael Ancram

Michael Ancram

Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Counsel, Member of Parliament , known as Michael Ancram, is a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician....
.

Education

Devizes is home to a single comprehensive school

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a secondary school and State school for children from the age of 11 to at least 16 that does not select children on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude....
, Devizes School

Devizes School

Devizes School is a mixed comprehensive school in Devizes, Wiltshire, United Kingdom for children aged 11-18 and is the largest school in the town....
, which has achieved specialist Sports College

Sports College

Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist school in the United Kingdom. The system enables Education in England#Secondary Education to specialise in certain fields, in this case, Physical education, sports and dance....
status.

Primary schools include Wansdyke, Nursteed, Potterne, Southbroom and St Peters.

Location

Position: . Devizes lies 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 the castle. As this is the centre of the east-west extent of the Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. It is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, and one of the world's largest producers of maps....
mapping grid, True North

True north

True north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole.True north usually differs from magnetic north pole and grid north ....
and Grid north

Grid north

Grid north is a navigational term referring to the direction northwards along the grid lines of a map projection. It is contrasted with true north and magnetic north ....
align exactly in Devizes.

Nearby towns and cities: Calne

Calne

Calne is a town in central Wiltshire, England. It is situated at the southern extreme of the county's North Wiltshire local government district and at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....
, Chippenham

Chippenham, Wiltshire

Swindon

Swindon is a City sized town and unitary borough authority in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire in South West England England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, Berkshire, east....
, Melksham

Melksham

Melksham is a medium-sized English town, lying on the Bristol Avon. It lies in the north of the West Wiltshire district, in the county of Wiltshire....
, Warminster

Warminster

Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36 road, and near Frome, Somerset and Westbury, Wiltshire. It has a population of about 17,000 and is part of the West Wiltshire district....
, Salisbury, Andover

Andover, Hampshire

Tidworth

Tidworth is a town in south-east Wiltshire, England with a growing civilian population. Situated at the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain, it is approximately 10 miles west of Andover, Hampshire, 12 miles south of Marlborough, Wiltshire, 24 miles south of Swindon, 15 miles north by north-east of Salisbury, England and 6 miles east of Amesbury....
.

Nearby villages: Potterne

Potterne

Potterne is a village in the England Counties of the United Kingdom of Wiltshire. The civil parish of Potterne includes the hamlet of Potterne Wick....
, Roundway, Bishops Cannings

Bishops Cannings

Bromham

Bromham may refer to:* Bromham, Bedfordshire, a village in the county of Bedfordshire, England* Bromham, Wiltshire, a village in the county of Wiltshire, England...
, Etchilhampton

Etchilhampton

Etchilhampton is a village and civil parish in the England county of Wiltshire....
, Easterton

Easterton

Easterton is a village and civil parish in the England county of Wiltshire, in the United Kingdom. The parish also includes the smaller settlement of Eastcott....
, Wedhampton, Stert, Potterne

Potterne

Potterne is a village in the England Counties of the United Kingdom of Wiltshire. The civil parish of Potterne includes the hamlet of Potterne Wick....
, Poulshot, Seend

Seend

Seend is a village and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom....
, Sells Green, Rowde

Rowde

Rowde is a village and civil parish in the England county of Wiltshire....
, Rowdefield, All Cannings

All Cannings

All Cannings is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the England county of Wiltshire. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington....
, Great Cheverell

Great Cheverell

Great Cheverell is a village and civil parish in the England county of Wiltshire. In some sources the Latinized name of Cheverell Magna is used, especially when referring to the parish....
, Littleton Panell

Littleton Panell, Wiltshire

Littleton Panell is a small village located some 4.5 miles south of Devizes in Wiltshire. The village is sited mainly as a ribbon development along the A360 Devizes to Salisbury road....
, West Lavington

West Lavington

West Lavington may refer to:*West Lavington, West Sussex*West Lavington, Wiltshire...
, Market Lavington

Market Lavington

Market Lavington is a large village with a population of about 2,300 on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, near the market town of Devizes....
, Worton

Worton

Worton, as a person, may refer to:*Harry Worton , Canadian politician*William A. Worton , American police chiefWorton, as a place, may refer to:...
,Urchfont

Suburbs : Nursteed, Dunkirk.

Sport

Each year at Easter

Easter

Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christianity liturgical year.Christians believe that Jesus was Resurrection of Jesus from the dead three days after his Crucifixion of Jesus, and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday , two days after Good Friday....
the 125 mile Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon

Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon

The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon is a Canoe racing#Marathon racing race in England. The race is held every Easter over a course of 125 miles from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in central London....
is held on a course between Devizes and Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross....
in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. First contested in 1948, the event was one of the first to be included on the international race calendar when marathon canoeing

Canoe racing

This article discusses canoe sprint and canoe marathon, competitive forms of canoeing and kayaking on more or less flat water. Both sports are governed by the International Canoe Federation ....
gained world-wide popularity in the 1960s.

The local football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world....
team is Devizes Town F.C.

Devizes Town F.C.

Devizes Town F.C. is a football club based in Devizes, Wiltshire, England.They are members of the Western Football League Premier Division. They play at Nursteed Road: the official opening of the ground took place in 1965....
who play in the Western Football League

Western Football League

The Western Football League is a football league in the south west of England. The league's current main sponsor is Toolstation, so it is also known as the Toolstation League....
.

The local rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union is a competitive outdoor contact sport, played with an oval ball, by two teams of 15 players. It is one of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league....
team is , founded in 1876, known as the 'Saddlebacks' (after the Wessex Saddleback

Wessex Saddleback

The Wessex Saddleback or Wessex Pig is a breed of domestic pig originating in the West Country of England, , especially in Wiltshire and the New Forest area of Hampshire....
), and who play in the Southern Counties (South) League.

In 1850 Devizes Cricket Club was established.

Devizes is also the home of who play in the . Under the chairmanship of Toby Gilliat Brown - grandson of Sidney Gilliat

Sidney Gilliat

Sidney Gilliat was an England film director, film producer and screenwriter.He was born in the district of Edgeley in Stockport, Cheshire. In the 1930s he worked as a scriptwriter, most notably with Frank Launder on The Lady Vanishes for Alfred Hitchcock, and its sequel Night Train to Munich , directed by Carol Reed....
- the club has played its way up the hockey

Hockey

Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard, round, rubber or heavy plastic disc called a Hockey puck, into the opponent's net or goal, using a hockey stick....
league winning successive promotions over nine seasons.

In 1979 was formed. They have six teams, all playing in the Moonraker Netball Leagues. The A Team were champions of the Premier Division in 2007/8.

Twin towns

Mayenne, France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
Oamaru

Oamaru

Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific Ocean coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both....
, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
Tornio

Tornio

Tornio is a municipalities of Finland in Lapland, Finland, Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water....
, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
Waiblingen

Waiblingen

Waiblingen is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart Region, directly neighboring Stuttgart....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....

External links

12th Century Norman church.
at
- A 30 minute BBC TV programme made in 1977 of a day spent exploring Devizes

Sources

, retrieved 18:15 Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
, retrieved 18:15 Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)

Devizes

History

Local government

Education

Location

Sport

Twin towns

See also

External links

Sources