04 09 2010 A new section has been added to the Personal Memories page in the World War 2 section. Doug and Mary Pottinger of Marden near Devizes have supplied us with interesting photos and information about Italian and German POWs at the nearby Patney Camp. 
31 08 2010 - I visited the Basing House Civil war re-enactment on the Bank holiday. It was splendid with about 2000 troops - probably the biggest re-enactment ever. I have added 4 photos of the action 2 push of pikes and 2 cavalry against massed pike to the Civil War re-enactment photogallery.
- I have edited the battle of Roundway web page too and included a splendid photo of cavalry trying to break down (ineffectively) massed pike men - as at the battle.
24 08 2010 I have added a new icon to the navigation bar. Historic Houses and other important Devizes buildings such as the castle, our churches , pubs and schools can now be reached directly by clicking the Buildings icon. 21 08 2010 It is harvest time in the Devizes outdoors. Three photos have been added to the Wansdyke path webpage in the Open Space pages. A very impressive section of the ditch and bank dyke is from the old Marlborough to Bath coach road up to Morgan's Hill. Two butterflies were photographed on this section too. 09 08 2010  Two interesting trade tokens have been brought to the attention of Devizes Heritage. One is 1652 token found in Rowde and the other a1796 token of 1796. The interesting topic is discussed in the Tokens web page in the History section.
If any one has a trade token from this area I would be pleased to photgraph it and put it on this site. 06 08 2010 An interesting change is taking place in the use statistics of this website - last month 1740 different users logged on to the site. I also log the number of users by web page. The "what is new" page is proving popular - this implies that many of you are repeat users and are looking for what has changed. My son does this!! One page that does not get a lot of visits is the Historic Houses page . E.g I put a lot of effort into researching the important and intereesting people who have lived in Brownston House since 1700 - one of few Grade 1 listed buildings. For example the Garth family was housed their in the 18th century; there were 2 MPs and 3 Generals associated with the House. Also Miss Bidwell ran a high class ladies Boarding School their in the 19th century for over 50 years. Please visit these pages - you may find some interesting things. 02 08 2010 Readers of this website know of our interest in the Battle of Roundway Down in 1643 and the English Civil War. A photo gallery of matchlock and flint lock muskets, cannons, swords, infantry and cavalry in action, their armour, clothing and the social activities (cooking etc) surrounding camp life are illustrated through 2 re-enactments at Aldbourne and Old Wardour castle in Wiltshire. 12 new and interesting photos are at the end of the gallery. 27 07 2010 The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) played a vital role in World War 2 in alerting major cities, aerodromes and war factories of the approach of enemy bombers. Fred Brewer of Rowde was a permanent ROC member in Devizes. His son has supplied a photo of him at his post on top of the then Anstie building in the Market Place. Also supplied is a photo of the permanent staff and volunteers, including a woman, at their HQ in Southbroom House, Devizes. A short account ot the UK role of the ROC is also supplied. 20 07 2010 We have reorganised the World War 2 pages slightly. The home guard page has been renamed Home front in Devizes and includes the Home Guard, Womens' Land Army, Royal Observer Corps and will include more services later. There are NEW photos too in a Home Front photogallery. 17 07 2010 Three photos have been added to the Devizes Home Guard page. One shows the whole home guard assembled in 1941 outside their drill hall - now the Wyvern Club near St. James Church. Two are of Leon V Burn who ran an optician's shop in Market Place; one is of him in uniform as a Sergeant of the Home Guard and one as mayor of Devizes in 1941 / 1942. 13 07 2010 I have added captions to the photos in the Historic House photo gallery. Please look at these as I think the words really help understand something about these Houses. Feedback is as always welcome. 11 07 2010 I have added some photos to the Old Photos gallery and updated and completed the captions for all 69 photos. The Roundway Hill and Oliver's castle photogallery has also been updated. If any users of Devizes heritage has old photos or videos that we could use then please contact us. 05 07 2010 - Interesting detail has been added to the personal memories about Geman and Italian POWs in and around Devizes. I have created a new personal memories page page within the WW2 family. E.g. Yvonne Trevorrow of Devizes married Hans Bittner a German POW in 1950 following a romance, repatriation and return to England. Hans had been an interpreter in a Patney POW camp during the war.They were active in the German Twinning group from Devizes.
- a separate page has been written on the history of the Bear Hotel and some photos of pub signs has been added to the Inns web page .
30 06 2010 I have added a photogallery on inns and pubs of Devizes since 1500. Each photo has a short history. This complements the descriptive Inns web page where a more detailed history, without the photgraphs is given. 29 06 2010 We have added a lot more detail about the German POW WW2 camp on Horton Road, Devizes. We are still looking for photograhs pof prisoners being paraded through the streets from the station to the camp and of the prison itself. 26 02 2010 A new page on the Inns and pubs of Devizes has been added to the History and Historic Houses pages. As yet it has no photos but this will be rectified soon 25 02 2010 I have made a new page on a short history of the Canal ; It provides details of the idea, the construction, industrial use, demise and bringing it back to life of the Kennet and Avon canal. Again the majority of the facts have been provided by members of Devizes U3a local history group. 24 02 2010 A major article on W.E Chivers and Sons has been included in the History section. The comprehensive text has been written by the U3a Local History group and some interesting photos illustrate this important National scale Devizes engineering and building company that operated for 101 years. 22 06 2010 An article on the Corn Exchange has been added to the Historic Houses page. I have made some additions to the St. John's Church page and in doing so, I realised that I have never written about St. Mary's Church - I have now done so! I am grateful to Marlene Lewis and her Devizes U3a local history group for providing much of the information. 21 06 2010 Personal memory of the German POW camp Keith Genever born in 1940 in Devizes remembers "being taken up to the camp on Ferozeshah Road and talking to the prisoners through the wire and giving them biscuits. He talked to the Poles, Italians and Germans. Trusty prsioners were let out into the town on supervision and one year two came to his house for Christmas lunch ........... 20 06 2010 Two photos and more details on the history of le Marchant Barracks have been added to the website. In addition the English heritage listing for the barracks has been added too. More photos have been added to the Old Photos of Devizes page. Look at the end of the gallery for these. 14 06 2010 An early 1930s photo of the Devizes swimming pool in the canal has been added to the Old Photos page. It is the last in the gallery. 13 06 2010 Added to the Oliver's castle page 2 photos and a brief note on our aerial still and video project on the battle of Roundway Down site  
12 06 2010 I have added a lot of information on the modern history of Devizes Castle. In 1837 the Leach family began building a "castle" on the historic castle mound. Plans for the 1843 and 1888 sale are included which completes the article on Devizes castle 11 06 2010 Many new photos have been added to the Old Photos gallery. They include Wild's Brewery on Escourt St, Ice skating on the Crammer Pond in 1900, the old theatre on the island where Kwik Fit is now, Old Sheep Street and New Park Street. The new photos are at the end of the gallery. Added to the WW 2 Home front page is a photo of the "Wings for Victory" parade in May 1943 in the Market Square Devizes. 09 06 2010 A Civil War photogallery page on musketeers, pikemen, and cavalry and their weapons - cannon, muskets and swords has been added to various pages. These photos were taken by Alan Carter at the Aldbourne, Wiltshire Festival in May 2010. 02 06 2010 Phil Hancock and I visited the Aldbourne festival on June 1st - they had invited the English Civil War Society to recreate a minor skirmish that took place there. They created a wonderful medieval atmosphere. On the the war front they had about 100 troops, 2 cavalry horses and 3 cannons. I have put some photos of the noisy smoky experience and the flash of musket fire in the Battle of Roundway Down to illustrate what it might have been like. 30 05 2010 World War II pages. Stephen Carter, a Devizes resident with a BA in History from Southampton University, has begun to put some pages together on the world war II in Devizes. He is developing pages on the Devizes Home Guard, the Home Front In Devizes, Devizes POW Camps, Allied Troops in Devizes and the RAF In and around Devize. He is interested in receiving photos and stories about the war in Devizes and he asks that you contact him through the Devizes Heritage contact page. 26 05 2010 I have added photos of the 4 types of cannon balls that we have found so far on the Battle of Roundway site. They are from 3 separate but quite close sites. Details are given on the Battle of Roundway and Burial sites pages. 25 05 2010 Update on the battle of Roundway and the Burial sites - new site suggested After my appearance on BBC Wiltshire two people cntacted me about potential burial site. Yesterday Rob Parkinson of Rowde and Frank Mackay of Bishops Cannings went up to the Battle field site. Rob lived on Roundway Down for 4 years in the 1950s at a small cottage by Roundway Hill farm He points out that site 1 is also near the site of an ancient U shaped earthwork. He states that in the 1950s he was up on Morgan's Hill and the field with the earthwork was being ploughed - the U shaped earthwork was very visible in white chalk. He also remembers getting a book from Devizes library - a slim volume - in which a royalist soldier tells how “we chased the infantry down a small valley and we slaughtered them as we went along. We stripped the bodies and put them in an ancient earthwork and pulled down the walls on them". Unfortunately Rob cannot remember the name of the book. So we ask our readers if anybody has seen this quote in a book." On 1930s OS maps this enclosure is clearly shown - the map is shown on the web page. If any one knows this reference to Battlefield burials in the Earthworks we would be very grateful to hear from them. 21 05 2010 I have added a plan of Roundway House which shows 3 stages of its development from the early 18th century, through the late 18th century major addition by Wyatt for the Sutton familay and to the 1892 extensions by the Colston family. My thanks again to Brian Hillier Wilkinson for supplying this hard to find and very interesting information. BBC Radio. I was asked to go to the BBC Wiltshire Radio studios on 20th March to talk about the Battle of Roundway and recent archaeolgical finds. If you follow the link you will get to a recording of the interview. Scroll through to 1 hour and 6 minutes for the start of the interview with Alan Carter. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p007v8jq/Mark_ODonnell_20_05_2010/ 20 05 2010 I have updated 2 of the important pages on Devizes Heritage; A) Roundway House and the New Park. Considerable change has taken place on this page . Brian Hillier Willkinson of London has supplied me with substantial and hard to get information on the architecture of the House from the early 1700s. I have also done some more research on the rather complicated inheritances and ownership of the House. Brian has also alerted me to the English Heritage photos of the old house. B) I have upgraded the information on the finds stemming from the metal detecting of Keith Genever in the 1970s. He found 14 cannon balls in 3 different locations and this has led to a new understanding of where the battle actually took place. This is reported in 2 places - the Battle of Roundway page and the Burials associated with the batle of Roundway page 12 05 2010 - I have found 2 plans of Devizes Castle in a1920 book by E Herbert Stone. I have put them into the web page on the castle. They show the castle and town in the 13th Century and a quite detailed plan of the castle itself. These are well worth studying as they are the best I have seen.
- Three new photos of Roundway House have been added to the Roundway Park and House page. 2 of them in particular show how grand the House was before it was unfortunately demolished in the 1950s.
05 05 2010 Photos of the 2 cannon balls that hit St. James in July 1643 have beeen added to the St. James Church page above the photo of the 2 holes in the east tower. 29 04 2010 Breakthrough on the battle of Rounday Down, Bill Underwood and Keith Genever, two long term residents of Devizes, have come forward with information and archaeological artefacts about the battle of Roundway Down. Bill has been writing and researching the battle since the 1970s and Keith has been rmetal detecting on the Down. Read about the 13 canon balls, 100s of musket and pistol balls, soldiers buttons and shoe buckles found on the Down. Alan Carter has synthesised this new information in consultation with Colonel Robin Hodges. He has prepared 2 new maps with known grave sites and artifacts and has come up with a different position for the battle on Roundway Down. 24 04 2010 A new page on Stonehenge has been added, with 2 recent photos, to the prehistory page. 15 04 2010 1) Added to the St. James Church and Battle of Ro undway pages is a photo (04 2010) of the two canon ball holes in the east tower of St. James Church. Action during the Civil War resulted in cannonballs and shot hitting St. James Church. The canon ball holes are on the east side of the tower, bottom left and top right. The Parliamentary army's guns, Falcon field guns, were situated in Coatefield somewhere near the old Jump Farm. This was part of the Siege of Devizes on Wednesday 12th July 1643., the day before the Battle of Roundway Down. 2) New information on graves in the battle of Roundway Down has been added to the Potential Burial sites page. 12 skeletons were unearthed by Captain BH Cunnington Curator WANHS Devizes Museum in the 1920/30s. about 500m from the Olivers castle carpark. 3 Skeletons were also found in a Chalk pit on what they called Bagdon Hill. There is confusion about this name and which Hill is meant. This is discussed. An important map of the battle and burial site has been added too. 10 04 2010 A new section has been added to the Burial sites page for the Battle of Roundway in 1643 - at the bottom. Gordon Hancok and I are researching this topic to make a formal bid to dig test pits in the Beacon Hill Chalk pit. In the 1850s Roundway Hill covert was being planted by E.F. Colston of Roundway Park to make a wood for bird shooting. Workmen dug up 4 skeletons. One had 2 sabre cuts to the skull and his right arm had been hacked offf and placed between his legs. Separately shot, bullets and a stirrup were found. 09 04 2010 You can now search for articles and photos on the Devizes Heritage website. There is a Search icon on the site's navigation bar. In addition: For photos enter the search word(s); when the search has been made - click images on the navigation bar - any photos on the topic will be shown. For mapsenter the search topic followed by Devizes UK. Click on maps in the navigation bar. The search item will be highlighted on the map. To get back to the Home page use the back arrow on the navigation bar. This tool was developed by Stephen Carter BA (Hons) History. He is an ICT teacher living in Devizes. 08 04 2010 A photo of the Snobs' White horse on Oliver's castle - started in 1845 has been added to the Devizes Millenium White Horse page. Winter light and light snow have combined to make the old Horse visible from Roundway Hill covert. The photo was supplied courtesy of Sarah Padwick.. 07 04 2010 I have created a separate page for the Devizes Millenium White Horse in the Open Space section. Sarah Padwick has supplied an excellent aerial photo from 2007 just after the Horse had been scoured and looked pristine. The information pamphlet of the Cavaliers of the White Horse has been included too. 06 04 2010 Whilst having a meal and a pint in the Black Horse pub on the Bath Road. I spotted 2 interesting old photos of Devizes. One shows the Prison during its demolition by W.E. Chivers in 1924, the outer walls are there but the Governor's House is not. The other aerial photo shows the Caen Hill derelict locks and the operational railway in 1960. Go to the Old Photos page and follow the index links. 05 04 2010 Old Photos of Devizes is a new folder within the History page. It is limited at the moment but it will expand as those interested send in their photos and postcards. 04 04 2010 The 125 mile Devizes to Westminster canoe race brings National attention to Devizes. A new page has been added to the Open Spaces section. Photos of the Easter 2010 start have been included. 02 04 2010 - A new page has been added on the History page . Old Photos of Devizes is a collection of photos, postcards and newspaper images too.
The newspaper article on Devizes Heritage (see 12 03 2010 below) has created a very pleasing response. Many people have contacted me directly with offer of help, support, information and photos. The unique visitor statistics have been markedly improved too. These are stats that log a visitor in once in any month whether they visit the site 1 or 100 times in that month. In January I received 472 visits, February 487 and March 1696 unique visitors. I have been pleased too with the request for free tickets to the public lecture noted in the release on April 1st, 2010. So far I have had requests for 60 places. Please book early to avoid disappointment.
01 04 2010 New documents have been found that throw exciting new light on the Battle of Roundway Downin July 1643. Research at the Wiltshire History Centre in Chippenham has revealed leads to recently released documents from the Ministry of Defence (released under the "300 year rule"). This new evidence includes aerial photos taken during the Battle that clear up the exact disposition of the Parliamentary and Royalist forces at the start of the battle. This has been a source of much academic debate. There will be a public lecture on May 12th 2009 at the Devizes Town Hall at 7.30 pm to give details of this exciting new data. To reserve your free seat please e-mail ac1859@hotmail.com 30 03 2010 Old Park House in Hartmoor, Devizes was built by 1773. The House and a large estate was carved out of the old Castle Park and was extended to make a large neo-Geogian grade 2 listed building during the early 19 th century. Some interesting and important people have lived there. 25 03 2010 Jack Yeates of the Old Park estate has kindly provided Devizes Heritage with some interesting old postcard views of Quakers Walk .These have been added to the Quakers Walk page. A link has been inserted to the Devizes cemetery page which was opened in 1878. This shut off one of the access ways to Roundway park House. In addition some details of the change of heart of the Primary Care Trust to pull out of the GP centre proposal at Quakers walk are outlined. Well done Tony Sedgwick and the Trust for Devizes in organising a splendid public meeting at the Bear Hotel on March 18th 2010 !! 24 02 2010 Three additions have been made; A) Quakers Walk from Devizes to Roundway Park (Road) is one of the biggest open space controversies in Devizes. A public meeting last week at the Bear has caused the Primary Care Trust to alter its plans to join St. Monica's Trust in developing a GP centre - Primary Care Centre. This page gives the historical background. Devizes heritage will provide details of the planning proposals soon. B) The Roundway Park and House page has been edited and new information and a photo added. Marlborough Lodge is a grade 2 listed building. It was built in 1800 as the Lodge on the corner of London Road and Roundway Park (Road). It provided a gated and controlled access point to Roundway House from the London Road. It pre-dates the Quakers Walk Lodge by almost 50 years. new information has been added about the memorials to the Nicholas and Colston families in St. James Church - their local Church. C) More details are provided on the Nicholas and Colston families in an updated St. James Church page. A new photo has been added too. 22 03 2010 A new page, with many photos, has been added to the Historic House pages. It is a short preliminary piece on Roundway Park and House. This was an important estate; Quakers walk was converted from the cart track from Roundway to Devizes to the enclosed drive to this House in 1840/50. A Gate House was added which survives. Roundway House was demolished in 1950. But the estate is still owned by the Merchant Venturers of Bristol or its surrogates. Applications for development of this land adjacent to the much loved Quakers Walk continue to cause controversy in Devizes. 17 03 2010 An update and photos have been added to the Burial sites page for the Battle of Roundway in 1643. On March 16th Phil Hancock, Wiltshire archaeologist John Win terburnand Alan Carter visited the Bromham Chalk pit to get John's views on a potential dig. John Winterburn has now offered to assist in the production of a proposal to dig 5 test pits at the Bromham Chalk pit site. John is a graduate of Bristol University and runs his own consulting company JWAS Archaeology Services from his home near Chiseldon. He is undertaking a long term study in Jordan on World War 1 Conflict Landscapes, part of which is going towards a PhD thesis at Bristol. Permission will be needed from the Crown Estate and Natural England (SSSI managers) before doing the test pit dig. We will now be producing the necessary document over the next few months. 16 03 2010  A small section has been added to the end of the Devizes castle page. This gives the English Heritage listing for the castle walls which still contain some Norman features. 2 photos are included. 12 03 2010 Devizes Heritage in the news. A r eport in the Devizes Gazette and Herald has been posted on the internet. Thanks to them it was a fair report and a nice photo of Isabel Carter aged 3. There has been a good responce by the public. As of Sunday March 14th at 9 am 300 new visitors have looked at the site since Thursday at 9 am , i.e.100 per day. Despite the positive advertisement you wont find everything about Devizes History on the website!!! 13 03 2010 Wansdyke ditch and bankis an enigmatic yet impressive 5th century AD archaeological feature in the Wiltshire Landscape. It runs 72 km from near Bristol, over Morgan's Hill to the north of Devizes and finishes near Marlbrough in the Savernake Forest. A Wansdyke page has been added to 3 pages within Devizes heritage; the History, Prehistory and Open Spaces page. Photos illustrate the beautiful country through which it passes. 07 03 2010 A new page has been added to the Private Schools page. The Reverend Richard and Dr. Richard W Biggs ran a major boys boarding school, first on High Street and then in 2 locations on Long Street, between 1822 and about 1865. The report includes census data on the Biggs families and on the boys who boarded at the school. Many of the Scholars were Protestants from Ireland. Biggs family Boys Boarding School. 14 02 2010 A new page has been added to the Historic Houses page. Hillworth House is a grade 2 listed House with a grade 2* Garden pavilion. 7 02 2010 - Two links to the Hillworth Park Gazetteer have been placed in the Historic Houses and Open Space pages. The Gazetteer is a well researched PDF document which describes the history of Hillworth House and its park from ca 1737.
- Snowdrops are out at Drews Pond - two photos .
- Two interesting photos have been added to the Devizes Railway's page
2 02 2010 A new page in the History section has been added. It is about another potential burial site for the dead at the Battle of Roundway in 1643 Ongoing research in the field and at the Wiltshire History Centre has identified a second potential site in the "Stone Pit Quarry" in Bishops Canning. 01 02 2010 Work continues with the Archaeology page. I have added some details on the mesolithic and neolithic ages and will shortly add a Bronze age piece. - The Seven Parishes around Devizes study draft has now gone live and seems to be stable. It looks at the Wiltshire Sites and Monument record for Devizes, Potterne, Bishops Canning, Heddington, Bromham, Roundway and Rowde parishes. It is a large file and report and is a bit slow to load.
- I have been having problems with the web software and there have been problems with live and non-live pages. Please let me know if links are not working.
29 01 2010 - A new Archaeology page has been added to the navigation bar. Archaeological pages have been removed from the history page.
- A Devizes Heritage study on archaeological sites (SMR) in 7 Parishes around Devizes has been published on the Archaeology page. It is sorted so that archaeological ages e.g. the Bronze age are organised together. The study contains 4 bar charts, but as yet no analysis. Comments are welcome.
- Added to the Romans finds around Devizes pag
- A table of all Romano-British sites and monuments in seven parishes These are Devizes, Potterne, Bishops Canning, Roundway, Heddington, Bromham and Rowde. Data courtesy of Wiltshire Archaeology Service of Wiltshire Council.
- A bar chart showing the number of recorded Sites and Monuments of iron age, romano-british and Saxon age in 7 parishes around Devizes
26 01 2010 Added to the Battle of Roundway page two photos of the old yew trees found in the old chalk pit adjacent to the battlefield. The oldest one is about 350 years old and could have been planted as a memorial to the dead. The photos are at the end of the article. 25 01 10 Added to the Churches page – photos of all of Devizes churches now brighten up this page. A new page on St. John’s Church has been added. This contains a detailed history of the Church building and details of the people – royal, townsmen and clergy involved with our first church. - Added to the Castle page is a photo of the castle taken from St. John's Churchyard. Now it is winter so much more of the castle is visible. Click on the blue link to get a large photo. Near the bottom of the page are 2 photos showing the Keep out signs on the main entrance to the castle. What a shame there is no access even to the grounds of this heritage site.
- Added to the Roundway Battle page a photo of the gun shot dents in the wall of St. John's Church. These werer made during the Civil war sieges of Devizes
21 01 10 Added to the History page. A list with SMR numbers of Archaeological sites in Bishops Cannings, Bromham, Heddington, Roundway and Rowde Parishes. These sites and places are registered in the Wiltshire Sites and Monuments Record. Grid references, descriptions and academic references are given. 20 01 10 Added to the History page "Archaeology of Devizes" is a 27 page comprehensive report by the Wiltshire Council Archaeology Service dated 2004. - A list with SMR numbers of all Devizes archaeological artifactsand places registered in the Wiltshire Sites and Monuments Record. Grid references, descriptions and academic references are given There are 119 sites in Devizes.
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