126 



Bishop's Cannings. 



of her son Henry (at that time Duke of Normandy), the expected 

 restitution was largely qualified by deductions which his necessities 

 obliged him to make. To a competitor for the Throne, fortified 

 places were useful. Accordingly when confirming, by deed dated 

 13 April 1149, his mother's engagement to restore to the See the 

 Manor of Cannings, Henry specially excepted "the Castle of Devizes 

 situated in the aforesaid manor of the Church of Sarum, and the 

 Burgh and Park ; excepting also the services of the knights of the 

 said manor; till God shall so magnify me that I shall be in a con- 

 dition to give them back: excepting also seven and a half hides of 

 the said manor." 1 But these never were, and evidently never were 

 intended to be given back to the See. The King's advisers having 

 the will to keep, easily found the way. 



By a Deed dated a.d. 1157, eight years after Henry's last pro- 

 mise, and three years after he had established himself on the throne, 

 an arrangement was made "for the adjustment of a quit claim of 

 our Lord the King in the matter of the Castle of Devizes with the 

 two Parks and Burgh, as the same are at present divided and en- 

 closed by the Dykes." 2 This arrangement was amicable. The 

 King gave to the See, in lieu of what he retained, thirty pounds 

 per annum of Royal demesne elsewhere, and restored four churches 

 and two Prebends. From this time therefore (a.d. 1157) Devizes, 

 including what is called Old Park, (about 600 acres, long since 

 sub-divided into fields and in the hands of various owners, 3 ) was 

 finally severed from the Episcopal manor. With the town, Old 

 Park forms in fact the parish of Devizes : and the town itself is 

 still surrounded on three sides by the parish of Bishop's Cannings. 



From 1157, the year of the amicable exchange, the rest of the 

 manor of Bishop's Cannings continued to be the property of the 



1 Waylen's Chronicles of Devizes, p. 68. 



2 Devizes Park, originally the only one, and attached to the Castle, was after- 

 wards called Old Park, to distinguish it from a less ancient rival, New Park, 

 on the opposite side of the town. From the document above referred to, it is 

 clear that the Old Park itself in the year 1157, had been already sw£>-divided into 

 two parts and enclosed by dykes. These two sub-divisions are the "two Parks" 

 mentioned in the text. 



3 The chief of them being the Rev. Alfred Smith, who possesses a handsome 

 residence there. 



