aerial photograph of Devizes Castle Devizes Wiltshire England UK. Originally constructed as a wooden Motte and Bailey castle shortly after the Normal Conquest the castle was destroyed by fire in 1113. It was rebuilt in the early 12th century and much fought over during the wars which plagued England in medieval times. Both Henry II and Henry II used the castle as a prison and it was later owned by Catherine of Aragon. During the English Civil War the castle was held by Royalist forces and was besieged by Cromwell's New Model Army in 1645 eventually capitulating after a heavy bombardment. At the end of the war the castle was slighted on the orders of Parliament who wanted to see all fortifications dismantled except those needed for the defense of the country. Nothing now remains of the medieval castle bar its outline and the building on the site today is a Grade I listed Victorian neo gothic fantasy reconstruction built in 1842 to a design by Henry Goodridge