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Devizes Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Vyes; Diuisis; Divisis; Divisas

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SU00226132
Latitude 51.3503° Longitude -1.9971°

Devizes Castle has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a certain Masonry Castle, and also as a certain Palace.

There are masonry footings remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

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. (PastScape)

Originally founded by Bishop Osmund of Salisbury between 1078-1099, the castle passed to royal hands when it was siezed by King Stephen from Bishop Bigod in 1139. Even then it was described as one of the finest and strongest castles in England. It remained a royal stronghold, but its upkeep was always burdensome. From 1299, it passed to the Queen as a possession, and thereafter remained a dower possession for successive queens. By the early 16th century it was severely decayed, and was ordered to be demolished in the Civil War. (HKW)

The castle, would initially have been a wooden construction, but this burnt down in 1113 and was rebuilt in stone between then and 1121 by Osmund's successor to the bishopric of Salisbury, Bishop Roger (Haslam 1976). The new castle was evidently an impressive affair, and earned praise from several chroniclers of the time. According to Norden in 1610, it had five towers, two chapels, and a large hall and keep on a lofty motte, although by then it was largely in ruins (Haycock 1993). The keep and hall were surrounded by a curtain wall on top of the motte, which had its own ditch. Around this were arranged the buildings of the inner bailey, which occupied the remainder of the outlier described above. The bailey wall was augmented on three sides by the natural slope of the hillside, whilst the eastern side of the inner bailey was defended by a bank and a wide ditch (Pugh 1975). (Urban Survey Devizes)

For George Clark, writing in 1886, 'This is probably the grandest mound in Britain, and its ditches the deepest.'

Although built by Bishop Roger of Salisbury did not stay in episcopal hands for long.

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. Leland had a particular interest in portcullises, which were a symbol of his employer's family the Tudors. However, seven portcullises is clearly much more than is required for defence and here a symbolic meaning is probably meant by this excess. It is possible this is a reference to Robert Grosseteste's poem Carmen de Creatone Mundi where a castle with seven barbicans is symbolic of the seven virtues (see Wheatley, A., 2004, The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England (York Medieval Press) p. 94-5). Given the cost of maintenance it is possibly that some, if not all, of these portcullises were sham.
Links to mapping and other online resources
Data >
PastScape   County HER   Scheduling   Listing   I. O. E.
Maps >
OS getamap   Streetmap   Old-Maps   Where's the path      
Data/Maps > 
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Sources of information, references and further reading

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The information within this site is provided freely by me for educational purposes only.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.
The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
This record last updated on Friday, May 3, 2013
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