Wessex Attractions: St Catherine’s Oratory
St Catherine's Oratory on the Isle of Wight was built in 1328 by Walter de Godeton, lord of the manor, as a penance ordered by the pope after he was…
The Character of Wessex: The Hampshire Downs
Bounded by Wessex's historic capital, Winchester, to the south, and the newer commuter towns of Basingstoke and Andover to the north and west respectively, the Hampshire Downs is an area…
Wessex Attractions: Bratton Camp
Anyone who has travelled through Westbury in Wiltshire cannot fail to have noticed the magnificent white horse carved into the side of Bratton Camp hillfort, visible from the approach to…
Essential Wessex: Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling (c1052-1125) was the last male member of the royal house of Wessex. Elected by the Witan following the death of Harold Godwinson in 1066, he reigned for less…
Wessex Attractions: Sandhurst Military Academy
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), often shortened to just Sandhurst, is only partially located in Wessex, straddling the border of Berkshire and Surrey. Its ceremonial entrance is not located…
Wessex Attractions: Kingston Lacy
Kingston Lacy is a Restoration-era country house near Wimborne Minster in Dorset, the former seat of the aristocratic Bankes family. In the 1830s, William John Bankes remodelled it in the…
From Mendip to Murmansk: A Somerset Sailor on the Arctic Convoys (part 1)
This article originally appeared in Wessex Chronicle Volume 15, Issue 1 (Spring 2014) The battleship, HMS Rodney – the flag ship of the C-in-C Home Fleet – was on patrol…
Essential Wessex: The Age of Arthur
Arthurian legend is not unique to Wessex, of course. Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Cumbria all have sites strongly associated with Arthur. However, Thomas Malory explicitly identified Camelot with Winchester, while…
Wessex Attractions: Arlington Court
Arlington Court is a Georgian manor house in Devon, built on the site of an old Tudor hunting lodge. It was the seat of the Chichester family from 1790 to…
Essential Wessex: The Battle of Hingston Down
The Battle of Hingston Down in 838 was a decisive victory by a West Saxon army led by King Ecgberht against a combined force of Britons and Danes. It appears…