Additional information
Terrain
- Pavements, canal tow path
Landscape
- Town streets and canal
Dog friendliness
- Dogs can be off lead along tow path
Parking
- Devizes Wharf car park
Toilets en route
- Car park off Snuff Street, Devizes
About the walk
Devizes is Wiltshire’s principal market town and takes its name from the Latin ad divisas (at the boundaries), as this old town is at the point where the manors of Rowde, Cannings and Potterne once met. The town grew up around the castle, built by Bishop Osmund of Salisbury in 1080. It burnt down... and was rebuilt in 1138 by Bishop Roger of Salisbury, builder of Old Sarum and Malmesbury Castle. The castle was demolished by Cromwell’s forces shortly after the Battle of Devizes in 1645 and the present-day building is a Victorian folly. Devizes, noted for its two fine Norman churches, has held a market since receiving its first Charter in 1141. Following the demise of the castle, the large marketplace became the focal point and the town prospered on the wool trade and dairy produce from the Vale of Pewsey. Monday Market Street In the early 19th century, Devizes held the largest corn market in the west of England and also traded in hops, cattle, horses and cloth. The wool trade’s prosperity is mirrored in the wool merchants’ 18th-century town houses in St John’s and Long Street, and around the fine marketplace. Interestingly, the pattern of streets originates from when the first castle was built and survives virtually intact. Other notable buildings to seek out are the Elizabethan timber-framed houses in St John’s Alley, Great Porch House in Monday Market Street, probably the oldest surviving building in the town, and the 16th-century Bear Hotel, one of a number of historic inns built when Devizes was a major coaching stop. Wadworth's and a hint of hops The town’s marketplace is known for its splendid 19th-century cross. One inscription reads: ‘Erected by Henry, Viscount Sidmouth, as a memorial of his grateful attachment to the borough of Devizes, of which he has been recorder thirty years and of which he was six times unanimously chosen a representative in parliament. Anno Domini 1814.’ The other inscription recalls the intriguing tale of Ruth Pierce, who asked Heaven to strike her down dead if she lied during a disagreement over money at the local market. According to the inscription: ‘she fell instantly and expired.’ Filling the air with the aroma of malt and hops is Wadworth’s Brewery, a red-brick Victorian building dominating the northern end of the Market Place. To learn more about the town’s history, visit the local library in Sheep Street. Caen Hill – the giant's vertebra Not far out of Devizes, and on the route of the walk, is one of the area’s most fascinating landmarks – Caen Hill Locks. This famous flight, nicknamed the ‘giant’s vertebrae’, is one of the great wonders of the canal era. Completed in 1810, to carry the Kennet and Avon Canal to a height of 237ft (72m), the flight consists of 29 locks in all, extending over 2 miles (3.2km). In those early days, the canal was so busy that gas lighting was installed so that boats could negotiate the locks day and night. Passage cost an extra shilling after dark. A record for ascending all 29 locks was achieved in 1991 when the crew of a narrowboat came through in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 51 seconds. By the early 1950s the canal had fallen into decay, superseded by the road and rail network. When the Kennet and Avon was eventually reopened by the Queen in August 1990, one of the locks on the Caen Hill flight was named in her honour. The canalside at Devizes Wharf has also been revitalized in recent years. Signs of industry have gone and the former timbered and balconied granary, built in 1810, is now the headquarters of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust and houses a small canal museum. The warehouse, now occupied by the Wharf Theatre, was equipped with a huge crane that could unload goods straight into the building from the boats. Marvel at this amazing feat of engineering as you descend past the locks and large side pounds.
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