Wessex - History, The present South West England region, Modern uses of Wessex, Earl of Wessex

A kingdom of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy (seven kingdoms), with its main centres at Winchester and Hamwic (Southampton). Under Alfred (871–99), Wessex - by then incorporating Kent and Sussex - was the only English kingdom to withstand the onslaughts of the Danes. Alfred's successors reconquered the Danelaw, and had united all England under a single monarchy by 954. In the novels of Thomas Hardy, Wessex is used to mean the SW counties of England, mainly Dorsetshire.

"Wessex" has never had any official existence since that time, but it has remained a familiar term since Thomas Hardy revived it for his West Country novels and poetry.

History

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ASC), Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric, chieftains of a clan known as "Gewisse", although the specific events given by the ASC are considered to be suspect.

Wessex expanded its boundaries and clashed with its neighbours, notably British Dumnonia (essentially modern day Devon and Cornwall), which it eventually came to dominate, and with Mercia. The hidage identifies thirty-three forts, which ensured that no one in Wessex was more than a long day's ride from a place of safety.

There is some evidence that kingship in Wessex was not rigidly hereditary.

After the Mercian conquest of its original territories in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, the northern boundary of Wessex was probably the River Thames; His Wessex included all the counties mentioned in the previous paragraph apart from Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, along with Devon. He gave the counties the following fictionalised names: Berkshire = North Wessex; Devon = Lower Wessex; Dorset = South Wessex; Hampshire = Upper Wessex; Somerset = Outer Wessex;

There is a movement in modern day south-central England to create a regional cultural and political identity in Wessex. The Wessex Regionalist Party is a registered political party which contests elections. The Wessex Constitutional Convention is an all-party pressure group in which those sympathetic to Wessex devolution who are not members of the Wessex Regionalist Party can also be represented. The Wessex Society is a cultural society which promotes a cultural identity for Wessex while remaining neutral on questions of political devolution.

The boundaries of Wessex were unclear and subject to dispute. The Wessex Constitutional Convention and Wessex Society add Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire to Hardy's list; and the Wessex Regionalists, who currently use Hardy's definition of Wessex, are likely to follow suit in the near future. This definition of Wessex has been criticised from a number of quarters. There are also a few in Hampshire who argue that southern Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were once a Jutish province in their own right and deserve to be treated differently to the rest of Wessex. The Wessex regionalist movements justify their eight-shire definition of Wessex in terms both of history and of modern regional geography and point to the impossibility of pleasing everyone as an argument against change at the present time, though they do not rule out the possibility of change in the future if the popular will demands it.

The present South West England region

The government office region of South West England covers a different area, consisting of Hardy's Wessex, less Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, but including Cornwall and Gloucestershire. Wessex groups are currently campaigning for boundary revisions to the regions in order to more closely match their definitions of Wessex.

Modern uses of Wessex

Wessex Stadium, home to Weymouth F.C. 43rd (Wessex) Brigade - British Army's regional command for the South West region Royal Wessex Yeomanry - British Army territoral unit Wessex Archaeology - An educational charity and the largest UK archaeological practice Wessex culture - an archæological label used anachronistically to describe a bronze age culture whose remains are found in the Wessex area Wessex League - football league covering Hampshire and parts of the surrounding counties Wessex Trains - train operating company that used to operate in much of the South West region Wessex Water - water supply and sewage company that covers much of the South West region

Earl of Wessex

In an unusual move, Prince Edward was made Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn in honour of his marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones (styled as Countess of Wessex) in 1999. The title Earl of Wessex had not been in use for over 900 years.