The castle changed hands several times during the Anarchy, a civil war between Stephen of Blois and Matilda in the 12th century.

The castle held important prisoners, including (from 1106) Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror.

[7] The chief products in the 16th and early 17th centuries were wheat, wool and yarn, with cheese, bacon and butter increasing in importance later.

The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, a process known as slighting, and today little remains of it; almost all of the present structure is from the 19th century.

[9] From the 16th century, Devizes became known for its textiles:[10] initially white woollen broadcloth but later the manufacture of serge, drugget, felt, and cassimere or Zephyr cloth.

In the mid 18th century, Devizes held the largest corn market in the West Country of England and also traded hops, cattle, horses and various types of cloth.

[10] Before the Corn Exchange was built in 1857, the trade in wheat and barley was conducted in the open, with sacks piled around the market cross.

[8] The cross erected in 1814 displays the tale of a woman, Ruth Pierce, who dropped dead suddenly after being discovered cheating.

[11][12][13] Prosperous wool merchants built town houses in St. John's and Long Street, and around the market place.

From the end of the 18th century the manufacture of textiles declined, but other trades in the town included clock-making, a bell foundry, booksellers, milliners, grocers and silversmiths.

The pond known as The Crammer, east of the town centre, is claimed to be site of the 18th-century Moonrakers story which led to a colloquial name for Wiltshire people.

[14] In 1794, a meeting at the Bear Hotel decided to raise a body of ten independent troops of yeomanry in the county of Wiltshire.

In 1810 the county militia, quartered at Devizes, mutinied and the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry were called out to quell the disturbances.

The mutiny came to a head when the two forces faced off against each other with loaded firearms in the Market Square, at which point the militia ringleaders surrendered.

The new prison was built of brick and stone, and was designed by Richard Ingleman as a two-storey polygon surrounding a central governor's house.

[22] Heathcote House on the Green in Devizes is a Grade II* listed building; its history is associated with the church and education.

[24] Southbroom House,[25] close to the Green, was built in 1501, then burnt down and was rebuilt by the Eyles family in 1772; it is now at the heart of Devizes School.

In 1853 the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society was founded in the town, and later opened a museum in Long Street.

There are plans to move the museum into the Grade II* listed former Devizes Assize Court, northwest of the town centre, where facilities for community events will also be provided.

In 2014, the town celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Market Cross, marked by Viscount Sidmouth and his cousin, High Sheriff of Wiltshire Peter Addington.

Suburbs of the town include Hartmoor, Jump Farm, Northgate, Nursteed, Roundway, Southbroom and Wick.

[37] The council has twinning associations with Mayenne in France, Oamaru in New Zealand, Tornio in Finland, and Waiblingen in Germany.

[43] The annual Devizes Arts Festival has a broad spectrum of musical events, poets and authors, literary talks, comedians and other performers.

[51] Devizes has bus connections to surrounding towns including Swindon (via Avebury), Trowbridge, Salisbury, Bath and Chippenham, each of which have rail services.

The Kennet and Avon Canal was built under the direction of John Rennie between 1794 and 1810, linking Devizes with Bristol and London.

Brownston House, a Grade I listed building, was the home of Miss Bidwell's Ladies Boarding School from 1859 to 1901.

[61] A private Devizes Grammar School was established in Heathcote House in 1874 by the Reverend S.S. Pugh and carried on until 1919 by his twin sons.

[69] St. Peter's Church, west of the town centre, was built in 1865–6 to designs of Slater & Carpenter; the south aisle was added in 1884.

[6] They rejoined the parent body in 1895 and the building was used by the Open Brethren, later by Devizes Christian Fellowship and (since the mid 1980s) Rock Community Church.

First contested in 1948, the event was one of the first to be included on the international race calendar when marathon canoeing gained worldwide popularity in the 1960s.