Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/769

Rh DEVIZES. 759 DEVONPORT. borough, in 1814, by Viscount Sidmoutli, who held ce of Recorder for 30 years, and represented the borough in six successive parliaments, previous to his elevation to the peerage. Tho townhall is a handsome modern edifice, having a semicircular front, with four Ionic columns resting on a rustic basement. The new prison, erected in 1810, stands on the Bath road, at a short distance to the N. W. of the town. It is constructed on the radiating principle, with the governor's house in the cenhv. In the market place there is a larn'n ami convenient market house, which was rebuilt and enlarged in 1839. It is now used for poultry, butter, cheese, and vegetables, there being a separate market for corn and cattle. The new corn exchange was erected in 1857 by means of a rate ; it is 142 feet long by 46 broad ; part of the roof is of glass. The front consists of a hand- some cornice supported by four Corinthian columns, and surmounted by a statue of Ceres, with agricultural emblems. The savings-bank is a building of stone erected in 1848, near the townhall. There are also three private banks, a dispensary, and a literary and scientific institution, the latter established in 1833. Within one mile of the ..townhall is the Wilts County Asylum, in a sheltered spot overlooking the valley of the Avon. It is buil(j of Bath stone in the Italian style of architecture, from the designs of Thomas Vy;iit, Esq., and was opened on 19th September, 1851. The gas-works are the property of the Commissioners for paving, draining, and lighting, appointed under il Act of Parliament obtained in June, 1825. The corporation, previous to the passing of the Municipal Reform Act, was governed by a mayor, recorder, and 36 f.ipiial burgesses, forming a common council under the of James I. and Charles I. The government is now vested in a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 town coun- cillors, with the style of the "mayor and burgesses of the borough of Devizes." Tho borough is divided into two wards, and has a revenue of 1,502. The municipal and parliamentary boundaries are coextensive, com- prising an area of 883 acres, with a population, accord- ing to the census of 1861, of 6,639, inhabiting 1,389 against 6,554 in 1851, thus showing an increase in the decennial period of only 85. The borough re- turned members to all the parliaments of Edward I. ; .1 'the 1st, 8th, and 19th of Edward II. ; and to the 4th of Edward III., since which time it has regularly returned two members to parliament. The right of flection was formerly vested in the corporation, includ- ing a few honorary members, but by the Act 2 William IV., cap. 45, non-resident electors have been disfran- i his' (1. and the privilege extended to the 10 householders of an enlarged district, now incorporated within the borough. Devizes is also a polling-place, and the prin- cipal place of election for the northern division of the county of Wilts. Meetings for the nomination of for the county are held in the town, which is a royal manor. The Epiphany sessions, and the Sum- i/es for the county, recently transferred from Salisbury, are held in the newcounty assize court, erected in 1835 at a cost of 7,000. Here also are held the quarter sessions for the borough, and petty sessions for ixcs division of the hundred of Potterne and Cannings. Devizes is the head of a Poor-law Union, embracing 28 parishes, and of County Court and Super- intendent Registration districts of nearly the same extent. By the Reform Act the new borough comprises, besides the old parishes of St. John the Baptist and St. Mary the Virgin (which are distinct for parochial pur- ] loses, though ecclesiastically united), part of the chapelry if St. James, and part of the parish of Rowde. The living of St. John is a rect* in the dioc. of Salisbury, val. with the cur. of St. Mary annexed, 510, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church of St. John is a noble structure in the form of a Latin cross, partly in the Norman and partly in the later English styles, with a square embattled tower, 73 feet high, rising from the intersection. It contains several marble monu- ments to the families of Heathcote and Button, and in the tower is a peal of eight bells. St. Mary's church, which stands in the north-eastern part of the town, has a tower crowned with pinnacles, 91 feet high. This portion of the edifice was rebuilt in 1436 by William Smyth, but the chancel is believed to be older, being in the early Norman style. At the eastern extremity of the town is the church of St. James, which stands within the borough, on the Green. Both these churches have been recently restored. The living is a perpet. our. in the dioc. of Salisbury, val. 150, in the gift of the Incumbent of Bishop's Cannings, of which parish it was a chapel-of-ease. The Independents and Wesleyans have each a chapel, and the Baptists two. There are two (National) town schools for boys and girls, one British school for both sexes, and two infant schools, besides denominational schools, and various charitable foundations for education. The charities are very con- siderable, being estimated at about 800 per annum, of which the church lands produce 300. The town sup- ports three newspapers the Devizes and Wilts Gazette, the Wiltshire Independent, and the Devizes Advertiser. Roman coins, &c., have been found in digging founda- tions. The site of the ancient castle, of which there are no vestiges, has been converted into pleasure-grounds. Richard of Devizes, a Benedictine monk, who wrote a chronicle of English History in the 1 2th century, was a native ; also Joseph Allein, the Nonconformist divine, Sir Thomas Laurence, President of the Royal Society, and Stephens, the physician. Thursday is market day, when business is transacted in corn and cattle. Fairs are held on the 14th February, 20th and 21st April, and 20th and 21st October, for cattle, toys, and pedlery. DEVOCK WATER, in the co. of Cumberland, 5 miles from Ravenglass. DEVON, a river in the cos. of Perth, Kinross, and Clackmannan, Scotland. It rises S. of the Ochill hills, a little to the E. of Sheriffmuir, and runs past Forsaway, through Rumbling Brig, over the Three Cauldron Linn Falls, past the Tillbody and Devon Iron-works to the Forth above Alloa. There is another river of the same name, distinguished as the South or Black Devon, in the co. of Fife, Scotland. It rises near Saline, and runs parallel to the preceding river, below Alloa. DEVONPORT, a municipal and parliamentary borough, garrison, seaport, and market town, in the par. of Stoke Damerell, hund. of Roborough, in the co. of Devon, 2 miles W.N.W. of Plymouth. It stands be- tween Stonehouse and the Hamoaze, at the mouth of the Tamar. Till 1824 the town was called Plymouth Dock, or more usually "Dock," and the inhabitants " Dockers." The dockyard was founded by William III., soon after his accession to the throne of England. The town was incorporated as a municipal and parlia- mentary borough in 1836. It stands on an elevation, looking over the bay of Hamoaze, and is encircled with fortifications, which were commenced in 1758. They consist of batteries on Maunt Wise, a redoubt and block- house on Mount Pleasant, and walls, or " lines," as they are locally called. These, however, were not completed as at first intended, as they were pronounced by the Duke of Wellington to be useless. The streets are very regularly built, mostly at right angles to each other, are paved with limestone marble, and are well lighted with gas. The water supplied to the town is brought from Dartmoor, a distance of about 40 miles. Th* townhall is a handsome building, and near it is a column of 125 feet, built from a design by Foulston, to commemorate the change of name. There are in the town, the Artillery, Raglan, and Mount Wise barracks. Reviews and inspections are held in front of the gover- nor's house on Mount Wise, and the port-admiral's house is also in the same quarter, between which and the Ad- miralty in London, direct telegraphic communication has been laid down. A semaphore stands near the house to convey orders to ships in the harbour, or passing within sight. The admiral has the chief naval command of the port, and all admirals touching at the port are under his control. The prison is at Pennycomequick. The market is a new building in the centre of the town, built from designs by Piers St. Aubyn, Esq., and butcher's r