Guest, Sign inJoin
Church of St MaryChurch of St Mary · Photo: Dave Kelly · CC BY-SA 2.0
A−History Grade
History of Devizes · Historic England

336 listed buildings, 5 of them Grade I

On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Devizes’s built-up area, 172 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. We have photos of 43 of its listed buildings and 4 old views of the town. 14% of its homes were built before 1919. Devizes grades A− for history: #9 of 30 in Wiltshire.

5Grade I43Grade II*1919old map1scheduled monument27on Long Street
Listed buildings
336
172 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
5
exceptional interest
Grade II*
43
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
14%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures

Devizes in 48 photos and old views

Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Brownstone HouseBrownstone HouseGrade I listedDevizes CastleDevizes CastleScheduled monumentThe Fox and Hounds InnThe Fox and Hounds InnGrade II listedThe Corn ExchangeThe Corn ExchangeGrade II listedThe Town BridgeThe Town BridgeGrade II listed+43See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.

Through time

Devizes from 1750 to 1919

An old map and 4 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.

A View of Devizes Market Square, Wiltshirec. 1750
GeorgianA View of Devizes Market Square, WiltshirePhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
Shinner & Mead, Monday Market Street, Devizes, Wiltshire. 1870c. 1870
VictorianShinner & Mead, Monday Market Street, Devizes, Wiltshire. 1870Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain
Devizes station 1900c. 1900
VictorianDevizes station 1900Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain
Devizes Cottage Hospital (1a)c. 1902
EdwardianDevizes Cottage Hospital (1a)Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain
Ordnance Survey One-Inch Sheet 112 Marlborough and Devizes, Published 1919c. 1919
Old mapOrdnance Survey One-Inch Sheet 112 Marlborough and Devizes, Published 1919Map: Director General of the Ordnance Survey, UK · Public domain

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

The map

Where Devizes’s history is

Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.

Devizes Castle, scheduled monumentBarford House, Grade II*Boundary Wall to Front of Heathcote House, Grade II*Chancel End, Grade II*Church of St James, Grade II*Conservative Club, Grade II*Former National Westminster Old Bank, Grade II*Garden Pavilion to the South East of Hillworth House, Grade II*Great Porch House, Grade II*Greystone House, Grade II*Handel House, Grade II*Heathcote House, Grade II*Lamp Standards in Front of Town Hall on North Side, Grade II*Law Courts and County Police Office, Grade II*Morris Lane, Grade II*Northgate House (Formerly Judge's Lodging Now the Municipal Offices), Grade II*Parnella House, Grade II*Premises on East Corner of New Street, Grade II*Retaining Wall, Rails, Gates and Stable Yard Wall of Number 17, Grade II*Sandcliffe, Grade II*The Ark, Grade II*The Bear Hotel, Grade II*The Black Swan Inn, Grade II*The Cedars, Grade II*The Market Cross, Grade II*The Old Town Hall, Grade II*The Queen's Head Inn, Grade II*The Town Hall, Grade II*10, Long Street, Grade II*11, Long Street, Grade II*16, Market Place, Grade II*18, Long Street, Grade II*21 and 22, St John's Street, Grade II*27, Long Street, Grade II*28, St John's Street, Grade II*29 and 30, St John's Street, Grade II*3, Northgate Street, Grade II*33 and 33A, Long Street, Grade II*33 and 34, St John's Street, Grade II*35, 35A and 36, Long Street, Grade II*39, St John's Street, Grade II*6, St John's Alley, Grade II*8, Long Street, Grade II*9, Long Street, Grade II*Brownstone House, Grade IChurch of St John the Baptist, Grade IChurch of St Mary, Grade IForecourt Wall of Brownstone House, Grade I17, Market Place, Grade I
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monument400 m from Brownston House
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
5 of 5Grade I buildings stand within 400 m of Brownston House, a five-minute walk. So do 226 of the 336 listed buildings.
0 of 13neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 34% were built before 1919.

Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.

336 listed buildings by grade
5 Grade I43 Grade II*288 Grade II

Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).

Grade I

The 5 Grade I listed buildings in Devizes

Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings; 5 of these stand within 400 m of Brownston House. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

House · listed 1972Brownston HouseOn the list as Brownstone HousePhoto: Trish Steel · CC BY-SA 2.0
Grade II*

The 43 Grade II* listed buildings in Devizes

Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 35 are photographed.

Show the other 31
House · listed 1954The ArkPhoto: Oscar Taylor · CC BY-SA 2.0
Inns & shops · listed 1954Black Swan HotelOn the list as The Black Swan InnPhoto: Betty Longbottom · CC BY-SA 2.0
House · listed 1954The CedarsPhoto: Robin Webster · CC BY-SA 2.0
Public · listed 1954Market CrossOn the list as The Market CrossPhoto: Arpingstone · Public domain
Historic streets

Long Street has the most listed buildings

Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.

Long Street27 listed · 8 II*
10, Long Street11, Long Street18, Long Street
Market Place22 listed · 1 Grade I · 1 II*
16, Market Place17, Market Place
St John's Street16 listed · 5 II*
21 and 22, St John's Street28, St John's Street29 and 30, St John's Street
New Park Street15 listed
Southbroom Road15 listed
Maryport Street13 listed
Northgate Street12 listed · 1 II*
The Brittox12 listed
High Street9 listed
Bridewell Street8 listed
Monday Market Street7 listed
Sidmouth Street6 listed

Of the 336 entries, 190 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

What’s protected

Most of Devizes’s listed buildings are homes

Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.

Houses, terraces & villas255
Walls, gates & bridges25
Inns, shops & warehouses24
Public & civic buildings17
Churches, chapels & priories11
Memorials, crosses & tombs3
Street furniture1

255 entries (76%) are houses, terraces and villas. 11 are churches, chapels and priories, including 2 of the 5 Grade I buildings.

Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.

Grade II

288 Grade II listed buildings

Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.

The first 150 of 288 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Barclays BankBarn at Hartmoor FarmBath RoadBedborough CottageBellevue CottageBesborough LodgeBlueittsBoundary Wall of Southbroom House Including Small Gateway to Devizes GreenBoundary Walls, Gates and Gate Piers of Numbers 27 and 27ABrickham Bridge, At Su 015 621Bridge House DurlestonBritish Lion Public HouseBroadleasCastle HotelChurch of St PeterChurch of the Immaculate ConceptionCoach House and Garden Wall (Part of Number 1 Hillworth Road) Coach House and Garden Wall of Number 1 (Hillworth Cottages)Devizes and Roundway War Memorial with associated railingsDistrict ClubDunkirk HouseEast Lodge of Old Park HouseEastcroft HouseFarmers Steakhouse Sidmouth House Walker and Rose LimitedFarmyard Complex to North East of Roundway Hospital Main BuildingForecourt Piers to St Mary's Congregational ChurchGarden Wall to Dunkirk HouseGate House of Devizes CastleGate Piers and Offsets of Number 16Gate and Railings at Entrance to St John's ChurchyardGatehouse and Walls Flanking Entrance North of Roundway Hospital Main BuildingGatehouse to Le Marchant Barracks with gate piersGates and Overthrow at Entrance to St John's Churchyard from St John's CourtGates and Railings at Northerly Entrance to St Mary's ChurchyardGirls HostelGreenbraeHartmoor Farm Cottage Hartmoor FarmhouseHighsett RowansHillsideHillworth CottagesHillworth HouseHsbc BankK6 Telephone Kiosk, The ChequersKennet and Avon Canal, Kennet Lock, Immediately North of Town Bridge, The NurseryLiterary and Scientific InstituteLloyds BankLondon Road BridgeLondon Road Youth CentreLyecroftMain Entrance Gates to St Mary's ChurchyardManor CottageMarket HallMarlborough Lodge and Gate PiersMelbourne HouseMorris LaneNew Baptist ChapelNos 9A, 9B AND 10, BRIDEWELL STREETNos. 11 and 12 St John's StreetNos. 14, 15 and 16, SIDMOUTH STREETNursteed FarmhouseNursteed HouseNursteed PlaceObelisk in St John's ChurchyardOddfellows HallOld Crown InnOld Park House (Annexe of Roundway Hospital)Parkdale House and Attached Railings, Wall and OutbuildingPart of MuseumPart of MuseumPatch CottagePelican InnPill Box, By the Kennet and Avon CanalQuakers Walk Lodge and GatesRectoryRoundway Hospital (Main Building)Roundway HouseRoyal Oak InnSalem ChapelSexton's Cottage to West of ChurchShane's CastleSidmouth StreetSidmouth StreetSouthbroom HouseSouthleighSpringfieldSt Mary's Congregational ChurchSt Mary's CottagesSt Peter's Church War Memorial, DevizesStone House to the Rear of Roundway Hospital Main BuildingStrong's RestaurantThe Bell InnThe Corn ExchangeThe Dolphin Public HouseThe Elm Tree InnThe FountainThe Fox and Hounds InnThe Hare and Hounds InnThe Lamb InnThe Liberal ClubThe Nags Head Public HouseThe New Market TavernThe Pie ShopThe Red HouseThe Town BridgeThe VicarageThe Volunteer Arms Public HouseThe White Bear InnThe White HouseThe White Lion Public HouseThree Crowns InnTower LeeValley HouseWadworths BreweryWall to New Park Road of Brownstone HouseWayside CottageWoodbine Cottage, 33 Southbroom Road and 35, Southbroom Road1 and 2, Lansdowne Road1 and 2, St John's Churchyard1 and 2, The Brittox1, Estcourt Street1, Little Brittox1, Northgate Street1, Nursteed Road1, Sidmouth Street1-3, St John's Court1-8, Bridewell Street10, Little Brittox10, Market Place10, Sidmouth Street10, St Johns Street10-12, Monday Market Street103 and 105, Southbroom Road107-113, Southbroom Road11 and 11A, Maryport Street11 and 12, Southgate11, 11A and 12, Bridewell Street11, Market Place11-13, Northgate Street117 and 119, Southbroom Road12 13, Maryport Street12, Long Street12, Market Place12A, 13 and 14, Long Street12A, St John's Alley13 and 14, St John's Street13, Bridewell Street13, High Street13, Market Place13, Monday Market Street13, Southgate14 and 15, Maryport Street

Search the rest on Historic England’s list →

Conservation areas

2 conservation areas cover 7.8% of Devizes

Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.

Devizes 197043 ha
Devizes, Victoria Road Quarter 20072 ha
45 hain conservation areas, of 573 ha inside the built-up area.

The first, Devizes, was designated in 1970; the newest, Devizes, Victoria Road Quarter, in 2007. 289 of the 336 listed buildings stand in one.

Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

How the list grew

More than half of Devizes’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1972

The year each building now on the list was first listed.

1972 · 1791954 · 121
19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 121 entries were listed in 1954, 3 of the 5 Grade I buildings among them. 179 came in 1972, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 2 have been added in the last 15 years.

Monuments & landscapes

Monuments, parks and gardens

Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.

1 scheduled monument

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.

Devizes Castle
History Grade

Devizes grades A− for history

Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.

Protected heritage, for its size and in all (391 points, 201 per 10,000 residents)More than 92% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (14%)More than 40% of UK towns

Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.

Born here

10 notable people born in Devizes before 1900

Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.

Joseph Needham Tayler
Thomas Evans Blackwell
William Henry Thomas Sylvester
Charles Blackwell
George Perry Abraham
Mary Higgs
Hallie Eustace Miles
Edward Murray Colston, 2nd Baron Roundway
William Benger
Harold Walter Bailey
175017751800182518501875190019251950
HB
Harold Walter Bailey1899–1996 · British scholar of Asian languages (1899–1996)
Hallie Eustace Miles
Hallie Eustace Miles1855–1947 · English writer, restaurateur, and social reformer (1855–1947)
GA
George Perry Abraham1844–1923 · British photographer, postcard publisher, and mountaineer (1844–1923)
Mary Higgs
Mary Higgs1854–1937 · [née Kingsland], (1854–1937), UK social reformer
ER
Edward Murray Colston, 2nd Baron Roundway1880–1944 · British general (1880-1944)
JT
Joseph Needham Tayler1783–1864 · British Royal Navy admiral (1783-1864)
Thomas Evans Blackwell
Thomas Evans Blackwell1819–1863 · English civil engineer
William Henry Thomas Sylvester
William Henry Thomas Sylvester1831–1920 · English military officer (1831–1920); recipient of the Victoria Cross

Everyone born in Devizes → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

Towns its size

Devizes has the 20th most Grade I buildings of 483 towns its size

Places of 12,000–31,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.

Armagh25
Ely25
Wells23
Berwick-upon-Tweed14
Stratford-upon-Avon11
Lewes9
Bishop Auckland9
Whitby8
Beverley8
Stamford8
Sudbury8
Devizes5
#19 of 483for listed buildings per resident (172 per 10,000). Bridport, Whitby and Lewes lead.

19 have more. Devizes is level with Hertford, Dorchester, Tavistock and Oakham. The typical town its size has 0.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Devizes

TownPeopleListedGrade IHistory
Devizes19,4913365A−
Potterne1,543562A
Bromham1,066351A
Market Lavington1,810632A
Littleton Panell1,334371A
Bowerhill3,97630D
Calne19,7251791B+
Melksham18,2771580B+
In brief

Devizes in brief

Few towns are as rich in listed heritage as Devizes: per resident it has more than 92% of UK towns. All told, the list holds 336 listed buildings, 5 of them Grade I. Its Grade I buildings cluster together: 5 of them stand within 400 m of Brownston House. Only 19 of the 483 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings.

Long Street alone has 27 listed buildings. Its older streets lie in 2 conservation areas, the first designated in 1970. Most entries on the list, 76%, are houses, terraces and villas. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it also has a scheduled monument; and 14% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.

Questions about Devizes’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Devizes?

Historic England lists 336 buildings inside Devizes’s built-up area: 5 Grade I, 43 Grade II* and 288 Grade II.

What are the Grade I listed buildings in Devizes?

5, including Brownstone House, Church of St John the Baptist, Church of St Mary, Forecourt Wall of Brownstone House and 17, Market Place.

Which street in Devizes has the most listed buildings?

Long Street (27), Market Place (22) and St John's Street (16) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.

Are there scheduled monuments in Devizes?

Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Devizes Castle.

How many conservation areas are there in Devizes?

2, covering about 45 hectares of the town. The largest are Devizes and Devizes, Victoria Road Quarter.

When were Devizes’s buildings listed?

The first in 1954; the most, 179, in 1972.

Are there old photos of Devizes?

Yes: 4 public-domain photos and postcards from 1750 to 1902, and an old map from 1919, all on this page.

Who was born in Devizes?

Among people born before 1900: Harold Walter Bailey (1899), Hallie Eustace Miles (1855), George Perry Abraham (1844), Mary Higgs (1854) and Edward Murray Colston, 2nd Baron Roundway (1880).

How old are the homes in Devizes?

14% of homes were built before 1919 and 20% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.

Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.