Tag: market place

Experiencing Devizes Ways on Market Days; a Special Case for a Town of Culture 2028

Sketches and Written by Brian Edwards

If not too distracted when bumping into townsfolk and village friends, you might remember to get more of a cheese you liked or that essential part for the vacuum cleaner…..

As regular readers of Devizine will know, one of the understated pleasures of Devizes is having a wander around on market days. From the listed buildings to the independent shops, our market day wanderings are significantly enhanced by the character of the town’s historic environment, and an enduring community spirit enriches the charming thoroughfares and myriad of routeways to and from the Market Place.

Farmers & Artisan Market

In 1724 the famous antiquary William Stukeley believed Devizes hosted ‘one of the best weekly markets in England’. In the previous century the Wiltshire born antiquary John Aubrey thought Devizes hosted the best fish market in Wiltshire, and in the early 16th century that father of English history, John Leland, stated the ‘market is very celebrate’. The town’s Thursday market dates to at least 1609, a regular potter around market stalls in Devizes dates to at least 1228 and around the stalls at fairs even earlier that century.

Hence, those visiting the Thursday market in the present are directly linking with a tradition that has periodically been celebrated as noteworthy and has survived hundreds of years of change. And because of this, your present day experience of the cultural footprint could prove influential.

The Brittox: Devizes Jubilee Morris celebrate 2021’s ‘Devizes is Open’ event following the Covid restrictions, and Daddy Longlegs entertain on Easter Monday 2026.

A Town of Culture?

Having been ranked third among the country’s most quintessential market towns in 2025, Devizes is now bidding to become the U.K. Town of Culture 2028, which offers a top prize of £3 million as just one of a rollout of substantial financial awards. Towns must at this stage hope to have matched the relevant competition criteria to make the shortlist, which would elicit a £60,000 grant to support the development of a full application.

In addition to a famous flight of Georgian canal locks and a globally important collection in the Wiltshire Museum on Long Street, Devizes also has a reputation for a busy seasonal programme of festivals, markets and other social and educational events in addition to many places of worship, cultural hubs and active clubs. The lengthy list of cultural happenings covers anything from wildlife to nightlife and every experience from a punishing Westminster canoe race to tinsel tractor runs. The flip side is potentially overlooking something each of us does with regularity without ever thinking how rich and diverse it is in terms of a cultural experience.

Stalls in The Shambles

What might a Town of Culture look, sound and smell like?

If you are familiar with the sights, sounds and smells of a market day mooch, then you may no longer notice the familiar market day hubbub: a soundtrack punctuated by the calls, banter and chats with market traders. You may not give a second thought to the welcome and directions you offered a newbie visitor. You will though notice the music, dance and drama brought by street entertainers, and the art that may be encountered in many forms from the stalls to the windows and interiors of independent shops.

The Ginnel

‘Tell us about the unique story and culture of your town.’

Few will have heard of the once legally renowned court case ‘The Mayor and Burgesses of Devizes v. Clark,’ that established the right of a jury to find a general verdict. The unique precedent from 1835 is possibly overlooked now and the butcher Jacob Clark of Maryport Street is entirely forgotten.

The gist of this court case was that Clark sold meat from his home on two successive Thursdays in 1833, when the Corporation held the right to charge butchers to sell to the public from their market stalls.

What interests us with the Town of Culture bid in mind, is not only that the Corporation established in law that their market and right to charge for stalls was ancient, but the arguments that were detailed about the civil authority customarily maintaining a safe adequate ‘known’ environment, where ‘large assemblages’ of the public can bear witness to transactions and events without travelling any great distance. It could have been written with the criteria set by the Town of Culture in mind.

The official Town of Culture requirements include a safe, supportive, non‑discriminatory environment accessible to all ages – a programme that reaches multiple audiences and offers opportunities for creative content – evidence of capacity, capability, and effective processes to deliver the programme successfully – strengthening or rejuvenating cultural and heritage infrastructure with realistic expectations. The history and modern day experience of the market in Devizes delivers all this and more.

Lilly waits in anticipation outside the bakery.

‘Culture is for Everyone’

We may never stop to think about it, but a magnificent cross section of local, regional and distant communities are represented on market days. From villagers to townsfolk and tourists threading their way around, to street performers, grassroots artists and other creatively active innovators; market days welcomes them all.

Every decade within living memory is represented on the town’s pavements, and anyone and everyone that isn’t housebound is unconsciously participating in a market day pageant. From prams and pushchairs to rollator walkers, wheelchairs and mobility scooters; these enabling wheeled wonders of our age are everywhere to be witnessed, as are many a responsible human with their pet dog on a lead.

Just sit on any bench in the Brittox and witness how many times you are lapped by elderly phone scrollers, middle age headphone wearers and teenage skateboarders. They are not all in their own world of course: a street performer recently remarked how young people engage with the informal music in the Brittox, stopping to listen and throwing coins into a hat or guitar case.

As outlandish as it may seem then, your wanderings on a Thursday could bear witness to an experience that ticks all the criteria boxes to underpin a bid to become the U.K. Town of Culture 2028. There is surely nothing that is more inclusive, culturally rich and diverse in our lives than a weekly market day dawdle in Devizes. This cultural experience is for everyone from their pram to their very last leg and it is entirely free at the point of delivery.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to our friends ‘shop indie InDevizes’ for both the excellent map and much encouragement https://www.indevizes.org.uk/

Many thanks also to David Dawson, Devizes Jubilee Morris and Daddy Longlegs for their assistance. Many thanks also to all the wonderful dogs and humans that featured in doodles which were redrawn and moved around to work up the final sketches.

Brian Edwards is a Visiting Research Fellow at The Regional History Centre, UWE Bristol.

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Devizes Market Place to be Pedestrianised

There was a unanimous vote at yesterday evening’s Devizes Town Council planning meeting in favour of stopping all traffic coming through the Market Place and pedestrianizing it….

With growing concerns to air quality in the town centre and pressure from local environmental campaign groups, the town council approved plans to prevent vehicles passing through the historic Market Place.

The plans presented by a contributing collaboration of environmental consultants to cut the road off at the Wadworth Brewery roundabout and the High Street at the opposite end will commence as soon as feasible and pedestrianisation of the area will shortly follow, with green spaces provided.

The benefits of pedestrianisation are manyfold: pedestrian safety, the World Health Organisation finds that pedestrianisation not only improves safety for pedestrians but also contributes to lower levels of noise and air pollution. Pedestrianisation creates a pleasant environment people can involve in social, cultural and tourism activities. Furthermore, it helps to promote walking as a transport mode by making the walking experience more enjoyable. And there are economic benefits as well as environmental. Pedestrianisation can improve the economic growth of an area due to increased consumer retail spend, increased rents able to be charged for units within a pedestrianised street and the reduction of economic losses caused through air pollution.

With two pedestrianised piazzas planned, one on each side of the Market Cross, surrounding green spaces have the potential to create lively market and events areas. It’s unlikely this will happen, claimed one Conservative Councillor who stated firmly, “this would only act as a stimulus for rowdy behaviour and festive frolics, and we would not welcome overexcitement from the public, partly because they’re unlikely to invite us.”

Along with plenty of walking and cycle paths, we’re informed there will be a single lane service road running through the centre of the Market Place to allow access to buses, taxis and delivery vehicles. There will be loading and unloading bays in the centre of the ring road, but no cars or private transport will be allowed to enter the area. There will however be two reserved parking spaces, one for our illustrious MP Danny Kruger and the other for Councillor Iain Wallis, social media god.

Plan of new Market Place layout

The council clerk Simon Fisher suggested, “being as Mr Wallis is the only councillor who really does anything it’s only right the second parking bay should be his, if you’d not called Boris Johnson a poo-poo head on his impartial Facebook group and got yourself a lifelong ban you’d know all about just how hard he works.”

Devizes Mayor Chris Gay called the decision “wonderfully different, yet something we will all adjust to in time.” When asked about the landslide vote, she replied, “yes, all councillors voted in favour of the service road, as I told them if they didn’t, they’d be buried under it.”

“Weigh, the lads!” announced councillor Jonathan Hunter, and all councillors stayed late to celebrate the decision, with a blues band arranged by councillor Hopkins, the reason he’s on the council, and a display of breakdancing choreographed by Kelvin Nash.

Guardians danced with Conservatives, and the only Labour councillor, Catherine Brown was sent out to make cups of tea. All enjoyed the evening, with the exception of Mr Wallis, who excused himself by announcing he needed a change of underwear, only later to be found updating his Facebook group with his concerns.

The work should be complete with a grand opening ceremony precisely one year from now, April Fool’s Day 2023. Seriously though, would it be a fool’s idea? No one parks there now anyway, but a patch of greengrocers’ fake grass is the best you could really expect. Let’s have the ceremony opened by Miley Cyrus, no one is reads this far anyway.

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Teddy Bears and Market Place Parking

“I work with a lot of politicians, I talk to a lot of people on county level, at national level, and I have never come across resistance like I get from the Devizes Town Council. We go into meetings and people listen, even if they don’t agree, and we come out of it with some sort of way forward. The Town Council have simply said, ‘we’re not going to work with you,’ and completely closed the door on us. I mean, I am a pain in the backside, and a stubborn person, and that’s probably why they think I’m the devil.”

In order to play devil’s advocate to this parking in Market Place fiasco, I am having a nice cup of tea, in his shop, with a teddy bear hospital shelf, where each bear is given a bed, and a biscuit while awaiting medical attention. I ask you, what kind of demon owns such a shop?! The guy is like a big teddy himself, but local businessman, renowned for kicking up a stink, Iain Wallis, is still discontent with the way the issue is being dealt with.

As an events and entertainment guide, I favour to leave local politics to the local rag, yet the acquisition of certain town control passed from Wiltshire Council to Devizes Town Council has been delivered on an ultimatum of ending free carparking in the Market Place, now a sad reality. Proposed the area could become a lively event space, and as we stand to promote and encourage events, I confess I warmed to the idea, but not as a persuasive blanket, built on a farcical ploy. We all know, the Market Place has already been used for such, with great effect and when there is no event it functions as a carpark. The notion, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, springs to mind, as the community of Devizes rally akin to its own little Brexit.

With this in mind, I’m keen to hear how the subject is progressing, if at all and who better to chat to then Iain, who has not only been chief activist, but built an independent campaign for a seat on the council around the cause? Firstly though, after a tour of teddy heaven, I pondered the type of clientele Moonraker Bears attracts, surely, they wouldn’t mind paying 70p to park?

IMG_2778

“Exactly,” Iain expressed, “The problem our customers have is slightly different. It’s finding somewhere to park for long enough. Like our teddy workshops, many of them will come to sew a bear, and they need three or four hours, most parking is three hours maximum.” But he explained the issue is not directly for his customers, “for me, if people aren’t coming into town, they won’t discover we are here. So, the issue doesn’t affect my business as much as it does for others. It’s about the whole town being one entity, a community.”

So, where are we at the moment with the issue, what’s the current update?

“Difficult to answer, because they’re not really talking to us at the moment. Where we are; we have saved parking in the market place, after they were going to take it away permanently. Wiltshire Council had to change their mind, and led on that, really, despite town council taking credit. So, despite the machine not working, we saved some parking.” Indeed, it now costs 70p per hour, with a maximum stay of two, but tickets can only be gained via mobile phone, causing a stir, alongside the position of the machine by the Market Cross. I have to wonder if it’s placing is strategic; look at what happens if you don’t pay your share, you’ll end up like Ruth Pierce and the wrath of god will strike ye down!

“It’s a temporary machine,” he clarified, “it can be moved when a final design is decided. I feel that’s a little optimistic, because the information we have is even when a final design is put forward, it’s not going to happen for 12 to 18 months. What’s happened now, is the Town Council called a consultation, and take heed of each focus group. All the information has been published on the Town Council website; out of it a group of councillors came up with the two designs. We asked if we could be part of that process, but it was refused. So, we gave them time to come up with the plans.” As far as Iain is concerned, only one option is feasible, the second concerns the needed service road. “Everyone asked said, keep (the pedestrianised area) as small as possible,” as like we said, it isn’t broken.

This has happened to Melksham, the event area lays dormant, but while they have some greater amenities, and it’s only 40p to park, but face it, not as bustling or as charming as Devizes town centre. Sure, a lively space akin to Camden Market I’d welcome here, if it could be so. Yet, with this in mind, we need to be encouraging visitors, and thinking of creating more, and cheaper parking spaces, not reducing them, surely?

“Absolutely,” hail, Mr Wallis and I agree! “I think what both councils are not considering is that we have two distinct visitors using parking. Residents who live in the villages, who’s needs are to get in quick, do a few jobs and leave; they don’t want to pay, as they’re staying an hour, they live here so feel some ownership, pay their council tax to provide such services. Then you have the visitors, who, as you said, if you visit a town you don’t mind paying for convivence. What we seem to be forgetting about are the residents; we need to provide short-term parking for them, but at the same time, encouraging visitors to stay longer. This thing of having short-term carparks is crazy, we need all options.”

Iain thought signage for carparks is poor, and visitors find it difficult to find them, like Station Road. But the whole issue is beyond parking for Iain, “it’s about councils listening to the people who know what they’re talking about, those running businesses and using the town.” The origin of the word ‘text’ to connote a body of words stems from textiles. Weavers sat outside their houses because their material was too large to operate on inside, would hear the word on street and politicians would take notes from them, to incorporate into policies. They were the hairdressers and taxi drivers of their era! Yet, has this ancient tradition escaped our town council?

IMG_2780

“The way this all started, we all got around the table,” Iain added, “we were all saying this, and we were sort of being listened to. Then, all of a sudden, it was all closed doors, because the asset transfer had come up. They did this without any reference to anybody, and said we’ve done it for the best interest of the town. I have no doubt the vast majority who stand for the town council, do so with good intentions, they want to do the right thing for the town, but they don’t see the other option. The option is to get the town onboard with them, and if WC are causing the problem, we can help them change it.” Convinced they cannot do it alone, Iain expressed he doesn’t know why, but is certain it ends with Devizes losing out, “for not having effective representation at Wiltshire level.”

“We talked to the people of the town,” he told, “they said we need as much parking as possible. Would love it to be free, but actually, the fact it’s there is most important.” On the origins of the fiasco, to provide an event space, Iain could see no reason to remove those parking spaces. Wiltshire council were saying they wanted to charge £1,500 a day for the suspension of parking, despite it being free at the time. “But since the people stood up and said, ‘we don’t like this,’ WC came up with a better deal, Devizes Town Council will own the space, we operate the parking, but any day you want it for special events it will be free of charge. That’s fantastic, and now we have that, it supports things like the Full Tone Festival, which went brilliantly. That can now happen as much as possible, and if so, it happens more, and at the point there is something happening each weekend, that’s the point where we could say we do want to pedestrianize some of this space.”

signal.jpg

The only argument I’ve really seen positive light on regarding the issue is the environmental angle, but while Iain agreed, observed it’d only move the problem, and lobbying to provide the area with better equipped recharging points, and availability for next generation vehicles is better, but another issue.

Herein lies our task, and why the issue involves Devizine, as we aim to promote and encourage events in our town. So, I finish by asking Iain if he feels the issue is akin to our own little Brexit! “I feel there’s a lot of parallels there! Similar is that it’s a problem of their own devising. We don’t have to have any changes to the market place.” Personally, he is up for making the area look as nice as it can be, but expresses the costing of the changes, and concerns himself that the Town Council haven’t costed the alterations effectually.

“We never campaigned for free parking,” Iain said, “only for fair parking.” Waffling on about the cost to councils for providing free parking on business rates.” Whatever, all I know is if it’s 40p in the Sham, but 70p here, people will shop elsewhere, and how can this move possibly be in the best interest to the town?

greggs

The fight continues, I proposed to Iain if he feels it will get to the drastic stage of organising a protest. “I prefer to be collaborative, but it’s interesting to look at the fact the change came, the council doing a U-turn, came after a lot of the public attended the meetings. So, it may have to come to that, or a vote of no-confidence in the Council. I think it’s a last resort, but are we not getting to that last resort?”

I’ll let you decide, I’ve ironically near overstayed my parking limit, but thank Iain for his lengthy opinions on this pressing issue and the tour of his wonderful teddy bear shop!

Join The Devizes Future Market Place Facebook group for updates and information

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