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Devizes Castle was built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury in 1080 but the town is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. Because the castle was located on the boundaries of the manors of Rowde, Bishops Cannings and Potterne it became known as the castrum ad divisas or "the castle at the boundaries", hence the name Devizes. The original motte and bailey castle was probably a wood and earth construction, but this burnt down in 1113 and was rebuilt in stone by Roger of Salisbury, Osmund's successor. Devizes received its first charter in 1141 permitting regular markets. The castle changed hands several times during the civil war between Stephen of Blois and Matilda in the 12th century. The castle held important prisoners, including Robert of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror in 1106. Robert was kept in Devizes for 20 years, before being moved to Cardiff Castle.
The town has three Church of England parish churches. They are dedicated to St. John, St. James and St. Peter. The last is an Anglo-Catholic church. There are also Methodist, Quaker, United Reformed, Assemblies of God, and Baptist churches in Devizes.
During the 12th and 13th centuries the town of Devizes developed outside the castle with craftsmen and traders setting up businesses to serve the residents of the castle. The first known market in Devizes was in 1228. The original market was in the large space outside St Mary’s Church, rather than in the current Market Place, which at that time would have been within the castle’s outer bailey. The chief products in the 16th and early 17th centuries were wheat, wool and yarn, with cheese, bacon and butter increasing in importance later.
In 1643, during the English Civil War Parliamentary forces under Sir William Waller besieged Royalist forces under Sir Ralph Hopton in Devizes. However the siege was lifted by a relief force from Oxford under Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester and Waller's forces were almost totally destroyed at the Battle of Roundway Down. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645 when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, a process known as slighting, and today little remains of it.
From the 16th century Devizes became known for its textiles, initially white woollen broadcloth but later the manufacture of serge, drugget, felt and cassimere or Zephyr cloth. In the early 18th century Devizes held the largest corn market in the West Country of England and also traded hops, cattle, horses and various cloth. Wool merchants were able to build prosperous 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. In the 18th century brewing, curing of tobacco and the manufacture of snuff were established in the town. Brewing still survives in the Wadworth Brewery, but the tobacco and snuff trades have now died out.
The town was also a coaching stop for Mail coaches and stagecoaches on the road from London to Bristol, as evidenced by the number of coaching inns in the town, especially the Bear Hotel.
The Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed under the direction of John Rennie between 1794 and 1810 to link Devizes with Bristol and London. Near Devizes the canal rises 237 feet (72 m) by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill. In the early days the canal was lit by gas lighting at night, enabling boats to negotiate the locks at any time of day. The canal fell into disuse after the coming of the railway in the 1850s, but has been restored for leisure uses. There is a canal museum at Devizes Wharf.