Editing Devizes (section)

== Religious sites ==
[[File:St John's church, Devizes - geograph.org.uk - 409791.jpg|thumb|St John's Church]]
[[File:St Marys church, Devizes (geograph 3215952).jpg|thumb|St Mary's Church]]
Devizes has four [[Church of England]] [[parish church]]es, and has had nonconformist congregations since the 17th century.<ref name="vch-relig" />

=== Church of England ===
The two 12th-century churches, St. John's and St. Mary's, are Grade I listed buildings. They serve the parish of St. John with St. Mary which has always had one rector.<ref name="vch-relig" />

<!-- Church of St John the Baptist, Devizes redirects here -->
St. John's stands close to [[Devizes Castle]] and may have begun as its chapel. The oldest parts of the building are from 1130, shortly after [[Roger, Bishop of Salisbury]] rebuilt the castle.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Church of St. John the Baptist, Devizes|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/451|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref> Pevsner writes "A major Norman church, dominated by a mighty crossing tower ...".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget (revision) |year=1975 |orig-year=1963 |title=Wiltshire |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |edition=2nd |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-0710-26-4 |pages=205–6}}</ref> The western part of the church was rebuilt in the 15th century. [[Victorian restoration|restoration]] was carried out in 1844 and 1862–3, including the west front designed by [[William Slater (architect)|Slater]]. The ornate Beauchamp south chapel is similar to the 1492 Beauchamp and Tocotes chapel at [[Bromham, Wiltshire|Bromham]]; the north Lamb chapel has a fine panelled ceiling. The organ case is late 17th century.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1262359|desc=Church of St John the Baptist|access-date=2 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

<!-- Church of St Mary, Devizes redirects here -->
St. Mary's was built in the 12th century to serve the town outside the castle walls. Only the chancel survives, the rest being rebuilt in the 15th century, including the fine west tower. The east window is from 1852, and there was restoration in 1854 ([[Richard Carpenter (architect)|Carpenter]] and Slater) and 1875–6. Since c. 2010, St. Mary's Parochial Church Council have been exploring conversion of the church into a performance and community venue.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Mary Devizes Trust|url=http://www.stmarydevizestrust.org.uk/|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>

[[File:St James Church in Devizes (geograph 1845713).jpg|thumb|The church of St. James]]
The church of St. James, Southbroom, stands on the edge of the green, next to the pond known as the Crammer. It was a [[chapelry]] of St Mary's, [[Bishops Cannings]] until 1832. The civil parish of Bishops Cannings extended as far as the church until 1835, when the boundaries of Devizes borough were expanded.<ref name="vch" /> St. James's is first recorded in 1461. The tower is 15th-century while the body of the church was rebuilt in 1831–2; the east window is by [[William Wailes|Wailes]]. After completion of the [[Le Marchant Barracks]] in 1878, St. James's became the garrison church of the [[Wiltshire Regiment]].<ref name="vch-relig" /> The building is Grade II* listed<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1263715|desc=Church of St James|access-date=1 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and underwent an internal re-ordering in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=History of St James|url=http://www.st-james-devizes.org.uk/index.php/history-of-st-james/history-of-st-james|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813214022/http://www.st-james-devizes.org.uk/index.php/history-of-st-james/history-of-st-james|archive-date=13 August 2015|website=St James' Church|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Today the church is [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] in style.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ST JAMES|url=https://www.stjamesdevizes.org/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-01|website=|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905085337/http://stjamesdevizes.org/ |archive-date=5 September 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:St. Peters Church, Devizes (geograph 5086124).jpg|thumb|St Peter's Church]]
St. Peter's Church, west of the town centre, was built in 1865–6 to designs of [[William Slater (architect)|Slater]] & [[Richard Carpenter (architect)|Carpenter]]; the south aisle was added in 1884.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1263777|desc=Church of St Peter|access-date=1 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> St Peter's is [[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglo-Catholic]], with episcopal oversight by the [[Bishop of Ebbsfleet]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Saint Peter's Church, Devizes|url=http://www.stpeters-devizes.org.uk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324070551/http://www.stpeters-devizes.org.uk/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=24 March 2008|access-date=1 June 2016}}</ref>

=== Other denominations ===
The Catholic church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was opened in 1865 and extended in 1909.<ref name="vch-relig" /> St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School is adjacent to the church.

Maryport Street [[Baptist]] Chapel, which was built in 1780 and extended in 1785, 1818, 1864 and 1922,<ref name="vch-relig" /> continues in use.<ref>{{cite web|title=Maryport Street Baptist Chapel|url=http://maryportstreetbaptist.org.uk/|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>

Salem Chapel, New Park Street, was built in 1838 by a pastor and followers from Maryport Street, who had left because of divisions in the congregation.<ref name="vch-relig" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rock Community Church|url=http://www.rockcomchurch.org.uk/|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>

The New Baptist Church was opened in 1852 during the pastorship of [[Charles Stanford (minister)|Charles Stanford]]. It replaced an adjacent [[English Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] chapel of 1791, which had been shared with disenchanted Baptist members from Maryport Street.<ref name="vch-relig" /> The church continues in use as Sheep Street Baptist Church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sheep Street Baptist Church|url=http://sheepstreet.org.uk/|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>

St. Andrew's Church, Long Street, was built as a [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] chapel in 1898, replacing an earlier chapel at New Park Street.<ref name="vch-relig" /> It is now a combined Methodist and [[United Reformed Church]].<ref>{{cite web|title=St Andrew's Church|url=http://www.standrewsdevizes.org.uk/|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>

The old Methodist Chapel in New Park Street was then used by the Salvation Army for many years until it was demolished.  The Salvation Army then raised funds to build a hall on Station Road which opened in 1971; the Scout Hut on Southbroom Road was a temporary home in the late 1960s after the New Park Street hall was condemned. The Corps was closed in the 2010s, membership having dwindled from a peak in the 1970s, ending around one hundred years of association with Devizes.<ref>personal recollections of a fourth generation family member associated with the Corps</ref>

A chapel was built at Northgate Street in 1776, at first for [[Calvinistic Methodists|Calvinist Methodist]] worship, soon becoming [[Congregational Church in England|Congregationalists]]. The building was enlarged in 1790 and extended in Early English style in the mid-19th century, becoming known as St Mary's Congregational Church;<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1262633|desc=St Mary's Congregational Church|access-date=2 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> from 1842 Devizes was the head of the Wiltshire and East Somerset Congregational Union.<ref name="vch-relig" /> The congregation joined St. Andrew's around 1987 and the building is now in residential use.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Congregational Chapel, Devizes|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/463|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>

[[Quaker]]s have a meeting room at Sussex Wharf, next to the canal.<ref>{{cite web|title=Devizes Local Quaker Meeting|url=http://www.devizesquakers.org.uk/|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>