#devizes

Devizes Castle - Wiltshire County - England

This image shows the Victorian "Castle" built in the 1800's the original Castle lies underneath the present structure being built in around 1080 as an early Norman motte and bailey with wooden pallisade and tower, built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury. It is first mentioned in 1106, when Robert of Normandy was imprisoned in it.

The original structure burned down in 1113 and was rebuilt in stone by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, by 1120. In that era, it was said (by an unknown source) that it was the most beautiful fortress in Europe. He occupied it under Henry I and the castle was claimed by Stephen, King of England in the 1130s; Empress Matilda once took it but returned the castle to King Stephen when he threatened to kill her son. Matilda later reclaimed it and held the castle for some time. The property was owned by the Crown until the 17th century. It was used as a prison by Henry II and Henry III. It went on to become the property of Henry VIII who gifted it to his wife Catherine of Aragon and then reclaimed it after their divorce.

Important prisoners were held at the castle, including (from 1106) Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, and (in 1232) Hubert de Burgh. Also, in 1206, John, King of England held his second wife Isabella here as a prisoner.

In 1643, during the Civil War, the castle was occupied by Royalist troops and besieged by Parliamentary forces under Sir William Waller. However, three days later in the Battle of Roundway Down, Waller's army was routed by Royalist forces. At that time, Devizes was a base for Lord Hopton's forces. The castle and town remained in Royalist hands under the military governorship of Sir Charles Lloyd, the King's Chief Engineer, who defended the town against repeated attacks and bombardments by the Parliamentarians. In September 1645, Cromwell with large forces and heavy artillery invaded the town and laid siege to the castle, which surrendered after a bombardment by the 5,000 man Parliamentary army. In May 1648 the castle was dismantled following a Parliamentary Order, a process known as slighting. The stone used for building other local structures.

The remains of original castle (below the current castle) became a scheduled monument in 1953 based on excavations at the site, and is in the care of Historic England

In 1838 the castle lands were acquired by J. N. Tylee who sold them in 1838 to Valentine Leach, a Devizes tradesman. The present castellatedVictorian era 'castle', in a mixture of Neo-Norman and Gothic Revival styles, was designed by Henry Goodridge, an architect from Bath. It was begun about 1840 with a boldly asymmetrical design, and was extended northwards in the 1860s and succeeding decades. The north tower incorporates the remains of a 17th-century brick windmill.

This building is NOT open to the public and is in private hands

Devizes Castle, Devizes, Wiltshire, United Kingdom,