Cannings. The parish is now the third largest in Wiltshire, but was formerly larger, having lost a large area to the nearby town of Devizes in 1835 and to the new parish of Roundway in 1894. Bishops Cannings parish had previously encircled Devizes to the north, east and south, and reached as far into the town as the Crammer, a large pond on the edge of the town centre. This may explain how Bishops Cannings comes to lay claim to being the place of origin of the legend of the Moonrakers. Next to the pond is the 15th-century church of St James, which was a chapelry of Bishops Cannings. Further expansion of the borough of Devizes in 1934 brought Wick and the whole of St James's chapelry (sometimes called Southbroom, and including Southbroom House) into the town, while the Nursteed tithing became part of Roundway. In 2017 Roundway became a ward of Devizes. A north-eastern part of the Devizes built-up area known as Northfields, between the canal and Horton Road and including retailers Lidl and B&Q and the former Le Marchant Barracks, remains within Bishops Cannings parish. Local government Bishops Cannings is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for almost all significant local government functions. Religious sites Parish church The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin is Grade I listed. Originating in the 12th or 13th century, with many Early English features surviving, it was altered in the 14th and 15th centuries and restored in the 19th. Pevsner writes that it has "uncommon size and nobility", through being part of a bishop's estate. Domesday Book recorded a priest but did not mention a church. The earliest parts of the building are a damaged 12th-century scallop capital in the chancel, and one of the chancel's west lancet windows which is from the late 12th century or early 13th. The three-bay chancel, mostly in rubble stone, is from the mid-13th century. The church has a cruciform plan and is in ashlar apart from the chancel and sacristy. The large central tower carries a spire, and the four-bay nave (which originally had a higher roof) has aisles and a south porch. A lady chapel – since 1563 the Ernle family chapel – is attached to the east of the south transept. The porch has