Links between Wessex and Brittany go back at least as far as the post-Roman period. The Bretons are thought to be the descendants of Brythonic-speaking emigrants from the kingdom of Dumnonia, covering modern-day Kernow and parts of western Wessex. One of its provinces was named Domnonea, after the British kingdom, though there was a separate province named Kernev, indicating a distinction between Devon and Kernow even then. Further evidence points to a possible second emigration of Britons as the western border of Wessex moved from the Parrett to the Tamar. Athelstan expelled the Britons from Exeter in 928, though the area where they had previously lived continued to be referred to as the “British Quarter” until as late as the 17th century. Until recently, the main bus station in Plymouth was known as Bretonside, a name retained for the new mixed-use development being built on its former site. There is also a Briton (originally Breton) Street in Southampton.
In the 16th century, serge cloth was exported to Brittany from Exeter in exchange for Breton linen, while during the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a thriving trade in Breton sea salt through many Wessex ports.
Today, ferries sail to Brittany from Plymouth, Weymouth and Portsmouth, while Eastern Airways flies between Southampton and Nantes.
