Devizes is a large town, situated near the centre of the county, and containing a variety of the most evident marks of antiquity.

The town consists of two principal streets, running parallel to each other, and between them are several smaller ones. The modern houses are all built of brick, the more ancient are chiefly built of timber, but upon a very good plan, and among them are several very good inns for the accommodation of travellers. The town received its first charter of incorporation from the Empress Maud, which has been since confirmed by several of our monarchs. Edward III. greatly enlarged the privileges of the burgesses, placing them upon an equality with the citizens of Westminster, and the burgesses of Oxford; by a charter of Charles I. confirming all its ancient privileges, the government of the town was vested in a mayor, recorder, eleven aldermen, called masters, and thirty-six common-council men. The free burgesses, who are made such by the corporation to an unlimited number, are the electors of the representatives in parliament. Their number is at present not more than thirty. Members were sent from this town to all the parliaments of Edward I.; only four returns were made during the reign of Edward II.; since fourth of Edward III. the returns appear to be regular.

The Town-hall here is a handsome edifice of modern erection, having a semicircular front, with a rustic basement, and four Ionic pillars attached. The ground floor is used as a cheese- market, and above is a large room in which public meetings, balls and assemblies are held; also a court room and its offices. The New Gaol is on the north-west of the town, close to the canal; and this, from the general elevation of Devizes above the level, has no fewer than twenty locks here within the space of a mile. In the centre is the governor’s house, with the infirmary directly over it. This portion of the structure is of a polygonal shape, as well as the cells immediately around it; between which and the boundary wall is a considerable space laid out in gardens. The front of the house and the boundary wall are constructed of wrought stone. The House of Industry, consists of some very large premises originally erected by Mr. Anstie.

St. John’s Church here is one of the most interesting parochial churches to the antiquary. It exhibits in its present form no fewer than four or five distinct styles of as many periods of its construction. It consists of a nave, two side aisles, a transept, a chancel, two private chantries or chapels. The masonry of the chancel tower and transept, probably built about the same time with the castle, and under the direction of Roger of Sarum, its celebrated founder is executed with a firmness and substantiality that also reflects the highest credit on the artisans employed; and appears as solid as when at first erected. The chancel is arched over with bold ribs, springing from clustered capitals at the sides; and in the northern wall is still displayed one of the original windows with a semicircular arch, and ornamented with the zigzag moulding. The tower is curious with respect to form and ornament, the east and west arches which support it being semicircular; and the north and south ones pointed. On the great arch connecting the tower with the nave is another striking ornament, that is a series of about forty-eight basso relievo figures, representing a peculiar sort of bottle running round the arch; and in the centre is a key-stone with an angel’s head and thistles sculptured on it. The abacus, &c. of the capitals are figured with triangular indentations, like the impression of a trowel on clay or mortar. A circular turret connected with the north-western angle of the tower is embattled at the top and terminated by a small spire. The elevation of the tower on the eastern front is divided into two compartments, separated by a cable and plan string moulding. In the lower division are two semicircular headed windows with a central mullion and cinque, and quatrefoil dressings; and in the higher a series of five semi-circular arches, only two of which appear to have been intended as windows. The other portions of this church are of comparatively modern date, and almost every part of it has undergone a certain degree of alteration at different periods. It contains several marble monuments.

St. Mary’s, the other church in Devizes, though constructed of good firm stone, is much inferior to St. John’s just described. It has, however, much imagery about it, and contains some antique monuments.

To supply the place of an old pillar, or obelisk, concerning a judgment on a woman who forswore herself, a Market Cross has been lately erected here, at the sole expence of Lord Sidmouth, as a memorial of his attachment to the interests of the Borough of Devizes, which he has represented in several successive parliaments previous to his elevation to the peerage. It is built entirely of Bath stone, and was designed and executed under the inspection of Benjamin Wyatt, Esq. architect. This cross, in its low department forms a square, having a buttress at each angle surmounted by an enriched pinnacle. The spire is an octagon with ribs and crockets at the several angles, and is tastefully decorated with architectural ornaments. The Chapel of Ease at this place is a neat structure, situated at the eastern extremity of the town, and is dedicated to St. James.

Devizes contains 696 houses, and 3, 750 inhabitants.

The inhabitants of Devizes are much engaged in the woollen manufactures, which employ great numbers of the poor, and the trade of the town has been considerably increased since the completion of the canals we have before mentioned. The market is on Thursday, and it is abundantly supplied with all kinds of corn, wool, cheese, cattle, &c. from the surrounding country.

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DEVIZES is a municipal borough, market, union and assize town, head of a county court district, railway station and military centre, on the old road from London to Bath and Bristol, and nearly in the centre of the county, of which it may be termed the second capital, and the chief town of North Wilts, 88 miles from London by road (85 ½ by rail), 23 north from Salisbury, 6 north from Market Lavington, 7 south from Calne, 7 east from Melksham and 20 east from Bath, with a station on the Berks and Hants section of the Great Western railway, which joins the main line at Reading and the Wilts and Somerset section at Trowbridge: it is in the Eastern division of the county, hundred of Potterne and Cannings, rural deanery of Potterne (Potterne portion), archdeaconry of Wilts and diocese of Salisbury. The town is situated on the flat top of a hill, forming a sort of table-land of considerable extent and elevation, and 500 feet above the level of the sea, and from its lofty and exposed situation is subject to winds from every point of the compass, hence the air is often cold, piercing and sharp, but dry and salubrious.

The town is of great but uncertain antiquity, some believing it to be Roman: it is not, however, mentioned in “Domesday Book,” but it is thought then to have been called “Kainningham,” or the chief town in the manor of “Kannings.” The present name, which is a barbarous Anglicization of the Low Latin “Divisas,” seems to point to nothing older than the erection of the castle: William of Malmesbury, in the 12th century, speaks of the “Castrum ad Divisas” (the castle of the boundaries), and the site on which it was built is at a point where the manors of Rowde, Potterne and Canning met. The borough of Devizes obtained its first charter from the Empress Maud, the daughter of Henry I.; this charter was renewed by her son Henry II. and confirmed by subsequent monarchs up to Charles I. The borough was scheduled in the “Municipal Corporations Act, 1835” (5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 76), under which it is divided into North and South wards, and is governed by a mayor, 6 Aldermen and 18 town councillors, who also act as the Urban Sanitary Authority. The borough has a commission of the peace and a separate court of quarter sessions.

The borough returned two members to Parliament from the time of Edward I. but under the “Representation of the People Act, 1867,” it returned only one, and under the provisions of the “Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885,” the representation was merged in that of the county, and now gives the name to the eastern (or Devizes) division. The municipal borough, from north-east to south-west is 2 miles long, one mile broad, and comprises the parishes of St. John the Baptist and St. Mary the Virgin, part of St. James or Southbroom and part of the parish of Rowde.

The town is well paved, drained and watched, and is lighted with gas, and supplied with water by the Town Council, to whom both the gas and waterworks now belong. The waterworks, completed in 1879, at a cost of £11,700, are about 5 miles north-east of the town, in the parish of Bishop’s Cannings.

The Kennet and Avon canal (begun in 1794 and finished in 1805) winds through the valley below the town, and is carried over a hill by a series of twenty-nine locks, and, after passing Devizes on the north-west, eventually joins the river Kennet at Hungerford, thus affording means of transit for goods from Reading on the east, to Bath and Bristol on the west.

The church of St. John the Baptist, near the castle, was probably built by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, in the early part of the 12th century, and is an edifice of stone, originally cruciform, and consisting of chancel, nave of six bays, aisles, transepts with eastern chapels, north and south porches and an embattled central tower, containing 8 bells, dating from 1610 to 1747: the chancel, restored in 1844, is Norman and has an intersecting arcade running round the interior: the aisles are Perpendicular: the north-east chapel has in the hollow moulding of the east window the inscription:-“Orate p bono statu Ricard Lamb”: the south-east chapel, a very fine example of Late Perpendicular, has an embattled parapet, ornamented with Tudor flowers, and square panels enclosing quatrefoils, and in the centre of the east wall, above the roof, is a canopied niche: the transepts retain the outline of the original Norman windows, now blocked up, and the north transept shows traces of the doorway formerly leading to the rood loft: the east wall of each transept is pierced by a hagioscope: the tower is oblong in plan; of the four arches supporting it, two are semi-circular, and those on the north and south pointed: the upper stage is relieved externally by an arcade of sixteen semicircular arches, six of which are pierced for lights: all the windows in the church, except those in the chancel, are Perpendicular insertions: the east window and three others are stained, and there are many brasses, mural monuments and tablets, including several to the Heathcote and Sutton families: there are 1,050 sittings. The register dates from the year 1559.

The church of St. Mary the Virgin is a building of stone 132 feet long by 65 wide, and consists of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower 91 feet in height, with pinnacles, and containing 6 bells, four of which were cast in 1663, and one in 1696: the chancel, the most ancient portion, is Norman, and was originally lined within by an intersecting arcade, much of which on the north and south sides has been cut away to admit of the insertion of four Perpendicular windows: the east end of the chancel was restored in 1852: the roof is vaulted and groined in stone: the chancel arch, cut through the original Norman wall, is late Perpendicular: on either side of its western face is a canopied niche, with a hagioscope beneath: the nave, aisles and tower were rebuilt by William Smyth, who died 1 June, 1436, and is commemorated by a Latin inscription on the nave roof: in the centre of the east wall of the nave above the ridge of the chancel roof is a canopied niche, with a statue of the Virgin and Child: at the north-east angle of the nave is a stair turret, with both upper and lower doorways: the tower, 14 feet square within, opens to the nave by an arch 40 feet in height and 10 feet wide, and the lower stage has stone groining: on either side of the west window, on the outside, is a canopied niche: the embattled porch has an outer doorway of Transition Norman date, and a turret stair to an upper chamber: the porch was repaired and the upper part was probably rebuilt in 1612: the east and west windows are stained: in the chancel is a brass to Anne Badger, ob.1871: there are also mural monuments to John Garth, M. P. for Devizes 1739—64; Major-Gen. William Hull C. B. ob.1840; Abel Filkes, ob.1815; Rebecca Garth, ob.1785, and others, besides many floor stones of the 17th and 18th centuries: there are 799 sittings. The register dates from the year 1669.

The living of Devizes is a rectory, net yearly value £230, with residence, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, and held since 1874 by the Rev. John Hart Burges D. D. of Trinity College, Dublin, chaplain to the Wilts County Asylum, and surrgoate; the living comprises the parishes of St. John the Baptist and that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, quite distinct from one another for civil matters, but forming a united rectory, and designated as the rectory of St. John the Baptist with the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary annexed.

St. Peter’s is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1867 from the parishes of Bishop’s Cannings and Rowde: the church, on the Bath road, is a building of stone, erected in 1866, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle and vestry: the south aisle was added in 1884: there are 360 sittings. The register dates from the year 1866. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £290, in the gift of the Bishop of Salisbury, and held since 1885 by the Rev. Arthur Charles Devas M.A. of Christ Church, Oxford, and chaplain of Her Majesty’s prison.

The Parish Mission Room, in Long street, built in 1890, will hold 100 persons.

The Catholic Church, erected in 1865, and dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, is a small building in the Gothic style, consisting of nave, only: it was restored in 1887 at a cost of £70, and affords 200 sittings. Near the church, is a convent, the residence of four sisters of the order of St. Joseph.

There are three Baptist chapels, in Maryport street, founded in 1780, with about 400 sittings; New Park street, founded in 1838, and seating 200 persons, and Sheep street, founded in 1851, with 650 sittings.

The Congregational chapel, Northgate street, founded in 1776, has 400 sittings.

The Wesleyan chapel, Long street, was built in 1898, at a cost of over £3,000.

The Friends’ Sleeting House is now used only for non-secretarian religious meetings.

The Salvation Army ball in Monday Market street, will hold 200 persons.

The Cemetery of four acres, at Belvidere, was formed in 1878 at a cost of £3,000 and has two mortuary chapels: a part is reserved for Catholic burials: it is under the control of a joint committee appointed by the Urban District Council and the Roundway Parish Council, 12 members being elected by the former and 6 by the latter.

The Town Hall, in St. John street, is a building of stone, the front of which is adorned with four pillars of the Ionic order; the upper storey includes the Council Chamber of the Corporation, the Grand Jury room, and an Assembly room, holding 500 persons; on the ground floor is the court room for the Borough Quarter Sessions, and an Armoury for the 2nd Vol. Batt. Royal Wilts Regiment.

The Epiphany sessions for the county, and the Spring assizes are held here. The Assize Courts, in Northgate street, erected in 1835, form an important building, in the Classic style, the principal front exhibiting a pedimented centre, supported by four Ionic columns resting on an elevated base, approached by a flight of steps, on either side of which are wings of considerable extent.

The Freemasons have two lodges here, and there are branches of the Foresters, Odd Fellows, Hearts of Oak, United Patriots, and other local societies.

The Odd Fellows’ Hall in Maryport street, erected at a cost of about £2,400, contains a large room for the meetings of the order, which is also let for public entertainments, and will hold about 300 persons.

The Market place, which occupies a central position in the town, is a large triangular space, from which the main street and several other streets diverge, some of which take a very irregular course. An extensive corn, and cattle market is held every Thursday, and a Christmas stock market early in December. There is also a market on Thursdays for poultry, butter and vegetables; in November, 1862, a monthly cheese market was established, and has now become important; the markets are under the control of the Corporation. The Market Cross was erected in 1814, from designs by Benjamin Wyatt, at the expense of Henry, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, who was recorder of the borough for 30 years, and represented it in six successive parliaments previous to his elevation to the peerage; it is constructed of Bath stone, and consists of a plain rectangular base, with a buttress at each angle crowned with a pinnacle and an octagonal Decorated spire. This cross has obtained wide-spread notoriety in consequence of the following remarkable inscription on the east panel:-“On Thursday, the 25th of January, 1753, Ruth Pierce, of Potterne in this county, agreed with three other women to buy a sack of wheat in the market, each paying her due proportion towards the same. One of these women, in collecting the several quotas of money, discovered a deficiency and demanded of Ruth Pierce the sum which was wanting to make good the amount. Ruth Pierce protested that she had paid her share, and said, she wished she might drop down dead if she had not. She rashly repeated this awful wish; when, to the consternation and terror of the surrounding multitude, she instantly fell down and expired, having the money concealed in her hand.” In the market place also stands a memorial to the late Right Hon. G. Sotheron-Estcourt, formerly member for the county, President of the Poor Law Board, and founder of the Wilts Friendly Society, consisting of a pedestal of Aberdeen granite, over 50 feet in height, on which is placed a statue of Mr. Sotheron-Estcourt: at the base are water troughs for cattle.

The fairs are on the 20th and 21st of April, and 20th and 21st of October, for sheep, cattle, toys and pedlery, and are held on the Green. Candlemas fair, Feb.14th, is held in Monday Market street.

The Corn Exchange, in the Market place, opened on the 3rd December, 1857, is a building of stone in the Classic style; in the centre is a statue of Ceres, presented by Christopher Darby Griffith esq. sometime M. P. for the borough, d.1885.

The Savings Bank, near the Town Hall, is a large and well-built edifice of stone, in the Jacobean style, erected in the year 1848, and comprises banking and waiting-rooms, with a large board-room; the remainder of the building is used for residential purposes: the bank is open for the transaction of business every Thursday morning from 11 to 1 o’clock, and on Monday evenings from 6 to 8; and the accumulated funds in 1898 amounted to about £40,000. A Penny Bank, conducted in the same building, is open every Monday from 6 to 7 p.m. and has been very successful; Mr. David Owen F. C. A. is the actuary of the Savings Bank and hon. secretary of the Penny Bank.

The Bateson Conservative Club, New Park street, was opened in 1886 by the Rt. Hon. Walter Hume Long P. C. M. P. and occupies the premises formerly known as the Bateson Reading Rooms.

The Devizes and East Wilts Liberal Club, founded 1890 and enlarged in 1898, contains spacious bar, billiard room, reading and recreation rooms, bowling alley and shooting range, and here also are the offices of the East Wilts Liberal Association.

Devizes Working Men’s Club, Maryport street, contains bar, recreation and card rooms.

The North Wilts Club, St. John street, is a social club for gentlemen.

Three newspapers are published here: the “Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette,” the “Wiltshire Advertiser,” and the “Wiltshire Telegraph.”

Her Majesty’s prison for the county of Wilts, on the Bath Road, near the canal, was built in 1810, and is arranged on a polygonal plan, the governor’s house standing in the centre.

The Wilts County Lunatic Asylum, opened 19th September, 1851, is a structure of Bath stone, in the Italian style, from designs by Mr. T. H. Wyatt, architect; it has been repeatedly enlarged, and will now hold about 855 patients. The land belonging to the asylum consists of nearly 125 acres.

Here are the extensive works of Brown and May Limited, manufacturers of portable engines, the tobacco and snuff factory of Messrs. E. and W. Anstie, and the breweries of Wadworth and Co. Limited and Wild and Co.

Devizes is the head quarters of the Wiltshire Friendly Society, founded in the year 1828, and which has upwards of 100 branches throughout the county: Earl Nelson is president and Mr. David Owen, sec.: there is also a very successful juvenile branch, founded in the year 1882.

A Literary and Scientific Institution was established in 1833, and has now (1898) about 240 members.

The Museum of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, in Long street, was opened by Sir Gabriel Goldney bart. president of the society, 8th Sept.1874: the museum contains the famous Stourhead collection of antiquities, formed by the late William Carrington esq. of Heytesbury, and Sir Richard C. Hoare, of Stourhead; there is also a collection of British birds, a herbarium, representing several thousand Wiltshire plants, some fine specimens of British, Roman, and Roman-British urns, both funereal and domestic, a representative geological collection, strata graphically arranged, an almost complete set of Wiltshire tokens, and a valuable library of books.

Wilsford House School; D. G. W. Rumsey, principal The Grammar School; S. S. Pugh, principal Verecroft House School; Mrs. A. P. Holbourne, principal The Devizes College; Miss a.m. Bennett, principal The Girls’ High School; Miss Horne, principal.

Sir Thomas Lawrence P. R. A, was born at Bristol, 13th April, 1769, and spent part of his youthful days in this town, where his parents kept the Bear hotel.

Devizes is the depot of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh’s), 62nd and 99th Foot, which form No. 62 Regimental District; barracks were erected on the London road in 1877—8: the staff of the Wilts Militia are attached to the depot. The B Troop of the Prince of Wales’ Own Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry and the C and D Companies of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh’s Wiltshire Regiment, have their head quarters here, the total strength being 165 members.

There are many charities in the town, founded for philanthropic educational and other purposes.1. St. John’s and St. Mary's joint charities, comprising 10 different benefactions, amount to £124 5 s. 8d. yearly, and include Sir John Eyles’s almshouses. 2. St. John’s charities, entirely for clothing or relief, include 8 separate gifts, producing annually £34 14s.10d. 3. St. Mary’s charities amount to £27 17s. yearly, and are for the same purposes, and some part of the charities for both parishes is derived from the joint trust. 4. The property administered by the feoffees of St. Mary’s now (1898) produces £402 per annum, of which £102 12s. is applied to the maintenance of almshouses in the Commercial road, and in weekly payments to the inmates; £96 is paid to the churchwardens of St. Mary's, and the balance is expended in repairs to the church. 5. The charities applied to the maintenance of the town schools include Wylds foundation for 5 boys; Woodroffe’s foundation, for 10 boys; Bancroft’s foundation, for 20 boys; Eyles’s foundation, for 6 boys; the Angel Rent; Thurman’s gift, and Imber’s charity, for the education and clothing of girls in St. John’s parish: the total amount received from these various sources is £57 5s.10d. per annum. 6. The charities under the control of the Municipal Charity Trustees includes Wylds gift of £3 2s.10d. and the Angel Rent of £31 19s. mentioned above: the Old Almshouse. charity of £342 yearly; the New Almshouse of £108 5s.10d.; St. John’s Church lands, producing £109 yearly, and several small gifts, amounting in all to £18 15s. yearly. 7. The Nonconformist charities comprise the Thomas Bancroft charity of £10 4s. 8d. yearly, originally for the education of 24 boys, sons of Presbyterians, but now applied in giving rewards of merit to children of Baptists and Congregationalists attending the public elementary schools. The Consolidated Presbyterian charities of £44 15s. per annum are now in part applied to the support and clothing of 20 poor men of the New Baptist denomination. There are also old Baptist charities of £100 yearly for the poor, the minister, and Sunday schools; two sums of £101 and £1,057, belonging to the Independent chapel, and £40 as an endowment for a Wesleyas minister.

The Devizes Cottage Hospital and Provident Dispensary, Park road, was established in 1876, and contains 16 beds, and is supported principally by voluntary contributions, and was enlarged in 1887 and its benefits extended to several of the surrounding parishes; the number of in-patients average about 100 annually.

The Hospital for Infectious Diseases, situated near the union workhouse, contains twenty beds.

To the north-east is Roundway Down, the abrupt termination of a long ridge of chalk hills stretching westward from Marlborough: here was the scene of the defeat, 13 July, 1643, of Sir William Waller by the Royalists under the command of Lord Wilmot: on its brow, and nearly overlooking the town, are the remains of an ancient earthwork or Roman station, and near it is Roundway Park, of 200 acres, with some fine timber, the seat of Charles Edward Hungerford Athol Colston esq. M. P. D.L. ,J.P.

The ancient Castle of Devizes, built in the reign of Henry I. by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, occupied a picturesque and romantic situation to the west of the borough: in 1106, Henry I. on his return from Normandy, caused his brother Robert, Duke of Normandy, to be confined here; and in 1139, Stephen, being jealous of the power of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, sent his minister, William D’Ypres, to lay siege to this castle; it was obstinately defended by Nigel, Bishop of Ely, a nephew of Roger, but Stephen, under threat of hanging the son of Roger, obtained possession, and found a treasure therein of 40,000 marks, besides other valuables. In 1141, Stephen having been defeated and taken prisoner at the battle of Lincoln (Feb. 2); the castle was surrendered to the Empress Maud, but she was unable to retain it. In 1174, Queen Eleanor, the young Queen Margaret, the Earl of Chester, the Earl and Countess of Leicester, and (according to one author) the wives of the Princes Richard and Geoffrey, were committed to the castle, which Prince (afterwards King) John held for his brother Richard during his absence in the Holy Land. In 1233 Hubert de Burgh, the minister of Henry III. was a prisoner here. In 1281, Edward I. stayed at the castle, where he collected his army, previous to starting to suppress the Welsh rebellion of that year. In 1419, Humphrey (Plantagenet) the “Good” Duke of Gloucester was appointed governor of the castle; and in 1533 it was visited by Henry VIII. and Queen Anne Boleyn; but it must have been then in a ruinous state, for Leland, who visited it in 1538, describes the fortress as having “yet divers goodly towers in the outer wall of the castle, but all going to ruin;” and he further records that a part of the structure has been carried “fully unprofitably” to the building of Old Bromham House. “The keep or dungeon of it,” he says, “set upon a hill cast by hand, is a piece of work of an incredible cost,” and Lambard, in 1569, says of it-“From being the most gorgeous in Christendom, it is now the most decayed.”

During the Civil War this neighbourhood was the scene of a desperate conflict between the Parliamentary forces, under Sir William Waller, and the Royalists, commanded by Lord Wilmot, on the 22nd of September, 1643: the king, for some considerable time after, held the castle and garrison of Devizes, and contemplated concentrating most of his forces here, or in the neighbourhood; but on the 23rd September, 1645, Cromwell in person, accompanied by Fairfax, appeared before the town, when the governor, Sir Charles Lloyd, was forced speedily to capitulate: after which the castle was destroyed, by order of Parliament, and the fortifications of Devizes razed to the ground: this property is now held by Sir Charles Rich bart. who purchased it on its being put up to auction shortly after the death of Mr. Leach, the late owner. The modern castle, erected by Mr. Leach, on a portion of the site of the ancient fortress, incorporates part of the old work, including one of the towers dating from 1100, and remaining almost intact. The ground floor of this tower is used as a museum and contains a collection of pottery, ancient arms and other relics, dug up within the precincts of the castle, which has been much enlarged and improved by Sir Charles Rich bart. during the period, 1891—3. The castle is surrounded by extensive gardens and grounds of great beauty, and is now the residence of Arthur E. Sebright esq. Broadlees is the residence of Miss M. Ewart, and Old Park is occupied by the Rev. A. C. Smith M.A.

The population in 1891 was-St. John the Baptist parish, 1,866; St. Mary the Virgin parish, 2,392; park of Southbroom within the borough, 1,850; part of Rowde parish, 318; municipal limits, 6,426; St. James' (without the borough), 1,783.

The population of the municipal wards in 1891 was, north, 3,543 and south, 2,883. The population of St. Peter ecclesiastical parish in 1891 was 1,001.

Petty Sessions are held at the magistrates’ office, St. John street, monthly, on a Tuesday, at 11 a.m. The petty sessional division comprises the following parishes:-All-Cannings, Allington, Alton Barnes, Beechingstoke, Bishop’s Cannings, Bromham, Chittoe, Chirton, Cheverell Magna, Cheverell Parva, Easterton, Erlestoke, Etchilhampton, Fullaway, Marden, Market Lavington, Marston, Patney, Poulshot, Potterne, Roundway, Rowde without Devizes, Stanton St. Bernard, Stert, Tilshead, Urchfont, West Lavington, Worton.

3rd Battalion Duke of Edinburgh’s Wiltshire Regiment (Royal Wiltshire Militia), head quarters, Barracks. London road, E. C. A. Sanford, Lieut.-col.

Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Prince of Wales' Own Royal Regiment, B Squadron) (3rd Yeomanry Brigade).

2nd Volunteer Battalion Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire Regiment) (C & D Cos. ), armoury, Town hall; orderly room, 32 St. John street.

Devizes Union

Board day, Tues. fortnightly, at Workhouse, 11.30 a.m.

The union contains the following places:-All Cannings, Allington, Alton Barnes, Beechingstoke, Bishop’s Cannings, Bromham, Great Cheverell, Little Cheverell, Chirton, Chittoe, Easterton, Erlestoke, Etchilhampton, Fullaway, Market Lavington, West Lavington, Marden, Marston, Patney, Potterne, Poulshot, Rowde, St. James, St. John the Baptist (Devizes), St. Mary the Virgin (Devizes), Stanton St. Bernard, Stert, Urchfont & Worton. The population of the union in 1891 was 19,744; rateable value in 1898, £104,758; area 62,762 acres.

Workhouse, a building of brick, built in 1837, & will hold 301 inmates, contains, at present (1898), 147.

Places of Worship, with times of services

St. John the Baptist Church, Rev. John Hart Bulges D. D. rector; Rev. John Gosse Locke, curate; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Fri. 7 p.m.

St. Mary the Virgin Church is a Chapel of Ease to St. John’s; 11 a.m. & 3 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

St. Peter’s Church, Rev. Arthur Charles Devas M.A. vicar; Rev. William Harvie Weekes, curate; 8 a.m.11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m. & daily 11 a.m.

St. James’ Church, Southbroom, Rev. William Gardiner B. D. vicar; Rev. Sidney Buchanan M.A. Rev. Ernest Carmichael Schmalz: M.A. curates; 8 & 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

St. Joseph’s Catholic, St. Joseph’s place, Rev. Joseph Bouvard (C. S. F. de Sales), priest; mass, 10.30 a.m. vespers, instruction & benediction, 6.30 p.m.; holy days, mass, 10 a.m. & even, service, 7.30 p.m.; daily, mass, 7 a.m.; Fri. benediction, 7.30 p.m.

Baptist, Maryport street, Rev. Charles Hemington; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. & Fri. 7 p.m.

The Brethren, Couch lane; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Congregational, Northgate street, 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; thurs. 7.30 p.m.

New Baptist, Sheep street, Rev. Joseph Day; 10.30 a m. & 6 p.m.; Tues. & Fri. at 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, New Park street, Rev. Thomas William Peeling, 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Salvation Army, Monday Market street; Sun. 7 & 11 a m. & 3 & 6.30 p.m.; week days, 8 p.m.

Schools

Borough of Devizes Science, Art & Technical School, Northgate street; the buildings comprise lofty & commodious workshops, a chemical laboratory, lecture & art rooms &c.; J. T. Jackson, hon. sec.

Boys’ Town, Maryport street, built in 1882, for 210 children; average attendance, 120.

Girls’ Town, Sheep street, erected for 150 children; average attendance, 96.

Infants’ Town, Sheep street, built for 200 children; average attendance, 120.

St. Peter’s (mixed), built in 1870, for 140 children; average attendance, 90.

Southbroom National, The Green, established in 1834, & largely rebuilt in 1894, at a cost of about £500, for 165 boys, 134 girls & 160 infants; average attendance, 144 boys, 127 girls & 112 infants.

Catholic (Middle Class School), conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Catholic, St. Joseph’s place; average attendance, 97; conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph.