"Bath & Wessex Fine Art and Photography Gallery" / Discuss

David Lewis-Baker    says:

After much consideration I have decided to change the name of the group to more accurately reflect the geographical spread and diversity of both its membership and subjects.

At various times the title 'Wessex' has included Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Hampshire & Isle of White, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Although briefly, under the Danish Viking king Cnut (post c1016), the Eearldom of Wessex comprised all of England south of the Thames,

Thomas Hardy used a fictionalised south-west as a setting for many of his novels, reviving the term Wessex for southwest England. He gave the counties the following fictionalised names: Berkshire = North Wessex; Devon = Lower Wessex; Dorset = South Wessex; Hampshire = Upper Wessex; Somerset = Outer Wessex; Wiltshire = Mid-Wessex. Neighbouring Cornwall was described as Off-Wessex or Lyonesse.

I intend to adopt as the core region for this group a modern definition of Wessex comprising of Gloucestershire & the Cotswolds, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and Devon.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

What follows is an edited extract from the Wilipedia entry on Wessex, if nothing else to show just how complicated the history and georgaphy of Wessex is:

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ASC), Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric, chieftains of a clan known as "Gewisse". They are said to have landed on the Hampshire coast and conquered the surrounding area, including the Isle of Wight. However, the specific events given by the ASC are in some doubt. Archæological evidence points to a considerable early Anglo-Saxon presence in the upper Thames valley and Cotswolds area as well as in Hampshire, and the centre of gravity of Wessex in the late sixth and early seventh century seems to have lain further to the north than in later periods.

During the mid 600s AD King Penda of the Northern kingdon of Mercia attacked Wessex and this marked the beginning of sustained pressure from the expanding kingdom of Mercia. In time this would deprive Wessex of its territories north of the Thames and the Avon, encouraging the kingdom's reorientation southwards.

The king of Wessex from 642 Cenwealh faced further attacks from Penda's successor Wulfhere, but was able to expand West Saxon territory in Somerset at the expense of the Britons. He established a second bishopric at Winchester, while the one at Dorchester was soon abandoned as Mercian power pushed southwards. Winchester would eventually develop into the effective capital of Wessex.

During the eighth century Wessex was overshadowed by Mercia, whose power was then at its height, and the West Saxon kings may at times have acknowledged Mercian overlordship.

As a result of the Mercian conquest of the northern portion of its early territories in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, the Thames and the Avon now probably formed the northern boundary of Wessex, while its heartland lay in Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Dorset and Somerset. The system of shires which was later to form the basis of local administration throughout England (and eventually, Ireland, Wales and Scotland as well) originated in Wessex, and had been established by the mid-eighth century.

The fortunes of Wessex were transformed by King Egbert, who came to the throne in 802 and who claimed descent from Ine's brother Ingeld. In 825 he overturned the political order of England by decisively defeating King Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellendun and seizing control of Sussex, Kent and Essex from the Mercians, while with his help East Anglia broke away from Mercian control.

In 829 he conquered Mercia, driving its King Wiglaf into exile, and secured acknowledgment of his overlordship from the king of Northumbria. He thereby became the Bretwalda, or high king of Britain. This position of dominance was shortlived, as Wiglaf returned and restored Mercian independence in 830, but the expansion of Wessex across south-eastern England proved permanent.

Alfred the Great (c. 849 – 26 October 899) was king of the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish Vikings, becoming the only English king to be awarded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was born sometime between 847 and 849 at Wantage in the present-day ceremonial county of Oxfordshire (then in the historic county of Berkshire).

In 865 another enormous Danish host arrived in England. Over the following years this army overwhelmed the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia. Wessex was invaded in 871, and although Aethelred and Alfred won some victories and succeeded in preventing the conquest of their kingdom, a number of defeats, heavy losses of men and the arrival of a fresh Danish army in England compelled Alfred to pay the Danes to leave Wessex.

The Danes spent the next few years subduing Mercia and some of them settled in Northumbria, but the rest returned to Wessex in 876. Alfred responded effectively and was able with little fighting to bring about their withdrawal in 877. A portion of the Danish army settled in Mercia, but at the beginning of 878 the remaining Danes mounted a winter invasion of Wessex, taking Alfred by surprise and overrunning much of the kingdom.

Alfred was reduced to taking refuge with a small band of followers in the marshes of Somerset, but after a few months he was able to gather an army and defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington, bringing about their final withdrawal from Wessex to settle in East Anglia.

Over the following years Alfred carried out a dramatic reorganisation of the government and defences of Wessex, building warships, organising the army into two shifts which served alternately and establishing a system of fortified burhs across the kingdom. This system is recorded in a tenth century document known as the Burghal Hidage, which details the location and garrisoning requirements of thirty-three forts, whose positioning ensured that no one in Wessex was more than a long day's ride from a place of safety.[1]. In the 890s these reforms helped him to repulse the invasion of another huge Danish army – which was aided by the Danes settled in England – with minimal losses.

Alfred also reformed the administration of justice, issued a new law code and championed a revival of scholarship and education. He gathered scholars from around England and elsewhere in Europe to his court, and with their help translated a range of Latin texts into English, doing much of the work in person, and orchestrated the composition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. As a result of these literary efforts and the political dominance of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect of this period became the standard written form of Old English for the rest of the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond.

After the conquest of England by the Danish king Cnut in 1016, he established earldoms based on the former kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia, but initially administered Wessex personally. Within a few years, however, he had created an earldom of Wessex, encompassing all of England south of the Thames, for his English henchman Godwin.

All from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wessex and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great

Aside from its location in Somerset at the heart of all forms of the Wessex kingdom, Bath is also the place where 'England' was first formally created out of the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex.

After the death of King Eadred in 955, the realm was divided between his two sons, with the elder Eadwig ruling in Wessex while Mercia passed to his younger brother Edgar.

However, in 959 Eadwig died and the whole realm came under Edgar's control and Edgar was crowned by the Archbishop of Cantebury as the first King of all England (i.e. Wessex and Mercia) at Bath's St. Paul's Monestary in 973 (later replaced by a vast Norman Cathedral, and later still by the present Abbey (c1499-1520).

Thus England was first formally united at Bath, in the heart of (then) Saxon Wessex.
Originally posted at 4:15AM, 16 December 2007 PST ( permalink )
David Lewis-Baker edited this topic 12 months ago.