Devizes, Wiltshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Devizes. You may be able to find further references to Devizes in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Devizes municipal borough and market town with railway station Bartholomew
DEVIZES a town, two parishes, a sub-district, and a district Imperial
Devizes (or Eastern) Division palimentary division Bartholomew
DEVIZES RAILWAY a railway Imperial

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Devizes.

Place Type of entry Source
POLSHAM a tything Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Devizes within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Henry Vincent Apr. 1 to 7: Aftermath of the "fracas" 12
Henry Vincent Mar. 16 to 23: Wye valley, Newport and Devizes 8
Henry Vincent Apr. 1: The Devizes Riot 8
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 2: Somerset and Wiltshire 5
William Camden Wiltshire and Hampshire 4
William Cobbett Aug. 31st Aug to Sept. 4th, 1826: Salisbury to Highworth 2
William Cobbett Sept. 6th to 11th, 1826: Highworth to Malmsbury 2
Charles Wesley Jan. 1- Apr. 27, 1747: Yorkshire, Manchester and Bristol 2
Henry Vincent Apr. 8 to 13: Bath 2
Henry Vincent Apr. 15 to 20: Bristol and Newport 2
Arthur Young 1776 Tour of South Wales and South Midlands 2
William Cobbett Oct. 30th to Nov. 8th, 1821: London to Berghcleere 1
William Cobbett Sept. 29th to Oct. 2nd, 1826: Ryall to Burghclere 1
Celia Fiennes Wiltshire and Dorset 1
Robert Gammage On tramp in 1840, from London to the south coast 1
Robert Gammage Eight months in Sherborne 1
Henry Vincent Mar. 24 to Apr. 1: Newport and Stroud 1
Henry Vincent Apr. 22 to 27: the Welsh Valleys 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Southbroom 0 2
Roundway 4 0
Potterne 0 3
Rowde 0 2
Poulshot 0 2
Fullaway 0 3
Worton 0 2
Stert 0 2
Etchilhampton 0 2
Bromham 3 2
Bishops Cannings 0 2
Heddington 0 2
Horton 0 2
Marston 0 1
Bourton 0 2
Bulkington 0 2
Seend 3 2
Lavington 0 1
Urchfont 0 3
Littleton Pannell 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Devizes. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
DEVISES Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
DEVIZES John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
DEVIZES OR EASTERN DIVISION John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
DEVIZES RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
DE VRIES William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DIVISAE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DIVISIO William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.