Devizes Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Vyes

In the civil parish of Devizes. In the historic county of Wiltshire (Modern Authority of Wiltshire, 1974 county of Wiltshire).

Neo Norman/Gothic castle and gatehouse built from 1842 with additions of 1860-80. Built on the motte of a castle of first mentioned in 1106. The first castle was burnt down in 1113 and was replaced by a stone structure circa 1123, probably by Roger Bishop of Salisbury who also created the borough. When visted by Leland circa 1540 much of the castle had fallen into ruin though the keep probably survived, for in 1645 the castle was held by the Royalists. Castle slighted after Civil War. Some slight masonry remains. Leland wrote 'Such a pecee of castle worke so costly and so strong was never before or since set up by any Bisshope' He also recorded that the principle gate from the castle to the town had seven or eight portcullises.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU00226132

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 216161 County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number; SU06SW457; SU06SW482

• Web site links
  • http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/3670/index.html
    http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/smr/getsmr.php?id=8582
    http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/smr/getsmr.php?id=8607
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p627-9
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p89-90
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p85-8, 90, 184
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p275
    James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p86
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p498
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p219
    1975, VCH Wiltshire Vol10 p237-45
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p626-8
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p81, 157
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p223-6
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p19
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p334
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 2000, 'Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Wiltshire' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol93 p107
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1987, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1986' Medieval Archaeology Vol31 p167 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Cunningham, R.H., 1945-7, 'Devizes Castle: a suggested reconstruction' Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol51 p496-9
    Stone, E.H., 1920 Archaeological Journal Vol77 p354
    Butcher, W.H., 1918, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol24 p129-63
    Stone, E.H., 1917, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol40 p417-29
    Butcher, 1884, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol40 p133-51
    Burgess, 1881, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine Vol19 p306-17 [poor]
• Guidebooks
  • Stone, E.H., 1920, Devizes Castle: its History and Romance (Devizes)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p463-4
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/wilshireeng.html#wilts7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p501
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p82