IF you are fortunate enough to be in Devizes over the weekend of July 16 and 17, you will be able to see what it must have been like to witness the Battle of Roundway Down.

The battle took place on July 13, 1643, resulting in a victory for the Royalist forces of Sir Ralph Hopton over the Parliamentary army of Sir William Waller. Positioned as it was between King Charles I's headquarters in Oxford and the centre of the King's support in Cornwall and the West Country, Devizes was bound to be of immense strategic importance in the English Civil War.

Kennet District Council and Devizes Development Partnership have spent months organising the weekend, during which members of the Sealed Knot English Civil War re-enactment society will stage the pitched battle as a public display.

Local schools are also involved in the project, which has only been made possible by the co-operation of farmer Jeremy Leonard.

It is hoped that this year's

re-enactment will become a regular event, so if you miss it this July, you can always come back next year.

Although it was a victory for the forces of King Charles I, the battle in effect led Oliver Cromwell to create the New Model Army, which swept all before it.

Devizes remained in Royalist hands until 1645 when Cromwell besieged it and bombarded the castle, which had been reinforced for the siege, into submission.

The names of Cromwell and Hopton are commemorated in place names around the town.

Although it was the last time that Devizes was involved in a pitched battle, its involvement with the Army continued until fairly recently.

Le Marchant Barracks was built in 1878 as the headquarters for the Wiltshire Regiment and the town's close proximity to Salisbury Plain Training Area meant that it was an important training base for the Army in both world wars.

Many soldiers who had come to Wiltshire for training, met their future wives at dances in the Corn Exchange, married and settled down in the area.

Others remembered their brief stay in the county with affection and returned here after the war to put down roots.

Devizes severed its last ties with the Army when the Territorial Army moved its county headquarters to Swindon in 1999.

Le Marchant Barracks is now scheduled for development.

However, a new Cadet Centre has been built beside the barracks and is now well used, not only by the Devizes platoon of the Army Cadet Force, but also by Guides and other local community groups.