Wessex Society

Tickets on sale from 12 August. Six events are listed.

Home - Wessex Week Wessex Week is a celebration of the region’s history and culture through the centuries, with a particular emphasis on Malmesbury and the Anglo-Saxon period. Wessex week 2023 was a great […]

One for the diary...

📢 Calling all Artists! The Engagement Team at Museum & Art Swindon are looking for a Community Artist experienced in inclusive engagement and community-led practice, to work with a group of young people aged 16-24, to co-create an artwork for a new exhibition.

🎨 The artwork could take any form, and include a variety of media, including 2D, and 3D visual arts, performance, poetry, dance, artistic responses, song. It could be, or could include digital work.

📆 It will be displayed as part of an exhibition at Museum & Art Swindon to open in November 2024. Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex, explores folk culture in Wessex, within a global context. Four themes run through the exhibition: People, Place, Stories and Making. To find out more and apply click on the link.
https://www.wessexmuseums.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Artist-Brief_MAS_FINAL.pdf

Any good at counting?

📣 Join Wessex Museums as a !

Wessex Museums is seeking a Finance Lead Trustee to join our board. The successful applicant will provide expert financial guidance, helping us make informed decisions about budgets, accounts, and overall financial strategy. Interested in shaping our future? Apply now! More info:
https://www.wessexmuseums.org.uk/finance-lead-trustee/

Led Zeppelin fans will recognise this character.

"Eight extinct species from the Isle of Wight have been named in the last five years."

‘Most complete dinosaur’ in a century unearthed in the Isle of Wight Comptonatus chasei was a plant-eater about the size of a big male American bison, scientists said.

For all involved in the Athelstan 1100 commemorations, a timely as well as significant announcement.

At least 24 skeletons found in Malmesbury hotel garden Human bones dated to more than 1,000 years old have been discovered at The Old Bell Hotel.

In order to save on costs, this website will soon be merging with that of the Wessex Regionalists to form a new site: theonlywayiswessex.net. You don't need to do anything, initially, this website will initially redirect automatically to the new site. However, this redirect will only be in place until the domain name expires on 22nd August, so please update your bookmarks.

Great News For All Readers In order to save on costs, this website will soon be merging with that of the Wessex Regionalists to form a new site: theonlywayiswessex.net. You don't need to

The Man On The Moor is a 2004 novel by John Van Der Kiste, set on Dartmoor on the eve of the First World War. George Stephens, an office clerk from London is found dead at the side of a Devon road. He appears to have been the victim of an accident, but his mother claims that he is the son of the Kaiser. As events unfold, it starts to look increasingly like murder.

Wessex In Fiction: The Man On The Moor The Man On The Moor is a 2004 novel by John Van Der Kiste, set on Dartmoor on the eve of the First World War. George Stephens, an office clerk from London is found dead at the side of a Devon road. He appears to have been the victim of an accident, but his mother claims that he is the son of the Kai...

Have preparations for Guy Fawkes Night started early this year?

‘Pile of old wood’: Salisbury residents say sculpture spoils cathedral view Wooden work called Seaview depicting house falling into the sea has been likened to fly-tipped debris

Sir Bevil Grenville (1596-1643) was a Cornish nobleman who was one of the leaders of the royalist Western Army during the English Civil War. He led 1500 Cornish pikemen at the Battle of Lansdown, where he was killed.

In 1720, his grandson, Henry Grenville ordered a monument to be built on the site of the battle. It is currently maintained by English Heritage.

The satnav postcode is BA1 9DD, and the monument is on the Bath to Tetbury bus route, Wessex service 620. The what3words is ///indicates.evidence.landowner.

Wessex Attractions: Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument Sir Bevil Grenville (1596-1643) was a Cornish nobleman who was one of the leaders of the royalist Western Army during the English Civil War. He led 1500 Cornish pikemen at the Battle of Lansdown, where he was killed.In 1720, his grandson, Henry Grenville ordered a monument to be built on the site of...

Sir Bevil Grenville (1596-1643) was a Cornish nobleman who was one of the leaders of the royalist Western Army during the English Civil War. He led 1500 Cornish pikemen at the Battle of Lansdown, where he was killed.

Wessex Attractions: Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument Sir Bevil Grenville (1596-1643) was a Cornish nobleman who was one of the leaders of the royalist Western Army during the English Civil War. He led 1500 Cornish pikemen at the Battle of Lansdown, where he was killed.In 1720, his grandson, Henry Grenville ordered a monument to be built on the site of...

Of course, every Wednesday is Wessex Wednesday, just as every week is Wessex Week...

Do you know what this item is? Is it a rock or fossil of some kind?

We’re bringing back to highlight the weird and wonderful items from our collections. This item from the collection is actually paint!

Created in the Swindon Works paint shops, this object was made from the layers of paint that formed when workers cleaned their brushes off on the wall. Over time the surface built up until it was removed from the wall and cut in half to show the cross section and the fascinating layers of history.

This object uniquely chronicles the history of Swindon Works, with layers of different paints and colours documenting the evolution of work practices over the years. It even featured on Antiques Roadshow in 2010, where viewers guessed its origin!

Tesco Finest? Not the finest knowledge of geography or geology?

Escape was a 1928 play by John Galsworthy, best known as the author of The Forsyte Saga. It tells of World War 1 veteran Captain Matt Denant, who in trying to protect a streetwalker from the attentions of a persistent Metropolitan Police officer, accidentally kills the policeman in a scuffle, and is sentenced to five years in Dartmoor prison for manslaughter. It has been filmed twice, in 1930 and 1948.

Wessex in Fiction: Escape Escape was a 1928 play by John Galsworthy, best known as the author of The Forsyte Saga. It tells of World War 1 veteran Captain Matt Denant, who in trying to protect a streetwalker from the attentions of a persistent Metropolitan Police officer, accidentally kills the policeman in a scuffle, and is...

Bronze and Iron Age treasure to stay in Dorset
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c511l4n7k52o

An appeal was launched to keep the Bronze and Iron Age hoards in the county where they were found.

—
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Dorset Museum buys Bronze and Iron Age treasure after appeal An appeal was launched to keep the Bronze and Iron Age hoards in the county where they were found.

The Oxford Murders is the English-language title of the 2003 novel Crimenes Imperceptibiles (literally Imperceptible Crimes) by the Argentinian novelist and mathematician Guillermo Martinez. It was subsequently adapted into a 2007 film starring John Hurt, Leonor Watling and Elijah Wood.

Wessex In Fiction: The Oxford Murders The Oxford Murders is the English-language title of the 2003 novel Crimenes Imperceptibiles (literally Imperceptible Crimes) by the Argentinian novelist and mathematician Guillermo Martinez. It was subsequently adapted into a 2007 film starring John Hurt, Leonor Watling and Elijah Wood.It tells of a...

This post was originally published on Dr Eleanor Parker's Patreon blog, A Journey Through The Anglo-Saxon Year, as a patron request from our secretary. We republish it here with her permission. We encourage readers to support Dr Parker's work through Patreon, and/or to buy her book Winters In The World, which collects some of the material from the blog.

Ealdhelm and the Ash This post was originally published on Dr Eleanor Parker's Patreon blog, A Journey Through The Anglo-Saxon Year, as a patron request from our secretary. We republish it here with her permission. We encourage readers to support Dr Parker's work through Patreon, and/or to buy her book Winters In The Wo...

'Blue zone' doesn't mean the area votes Conservative (although in this case it does).

'Nobody's hurrying – not like London': How Britain’s ‘blue zone’ helps you live to 86 The term 'blue zone' was coined in a 2004 academic paper by the Belgian demographer Michel Poulain and the Italian doctor Giovanni Mario Pes.

Rewilding Wessex, and Northumbria.

Somerset forest to be 'left to nature' for biodiversity boost A forest in Somerset will be one of four areas given "time and space to reshape" by Forestry England.

Bembridge Fort, on the Isle of Wight, is an example of what is known as a Palmerston folly. Ordered by Lord Palmerston, prime minister from 1855 to 1858, and again from 1859 to 1865, these were a series of forts on England's Channel coast designed to defend Britain from a threatened French invasion that never materialised.

Wessex Attractions: Bembridge Fort Bembridge Fort, on the Isle of Wight, is an example of what is known as a Palmerston folly. Ordered by Lord Palmerston, prime minister from 1855 to 1858, and again from 1859 to 1865, these were a series of forts on England's Channel coast designed to defend Britain from a threatened French invasion....

The Kennet & Avon Canal is the subject of a 1978 book by Kenneth R. Clew, 'Wessex Waterway'.

Kents Cavern, a mile and a half northeast of Torquay, is notable for being the site of a fossilised human upper jawbone which has been radiocarbon dated to the Upper Pleistocene era. It is the oldest Homo sapiens fossil to be found anywhere in northwestern Europe. Also discovered on the same site were the fossilised remains of now-extinct species such as cave bears, Pleistocene wolves, cave hyenas and sabretooth cats.

Essential Wessex: The Earliest Human Settlements Kents Cavern, a mile and a half northeast of Torquay, is notable for being the site of a fossilised human upper jawbone which has been radiocarbon dated to the

May sees the start of Malmesbury’s commemoration of King Athelstan’s accession in 924. It includes a full programme of talks and other events, running through to the annual Wessex Week in October.

HOME Athelstan was the first King of England and is of huge national importance. He had an incredibly special relationship with our historic town of Malmesbury, in North Wiltshire.

Apologies, but our website appears to be down at the moment. Please bear with us, as we try to find out what happened. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Why it’s not Saxland (and how we missed out on the Saxophone world).

How England got its name Why did it become Angle-land rather than Saxon-land when it was the West Saxon kings who eventually unified the old kingdoms into one? And how do the Anglo-Saxons fit into the overall picture? The …

In Avalon Archaeology's Saxon longhall, at Westhay, inspired by the Cheddar Palace.

At time of posting, only two tickets remaining...

Beowulf Storytelling A special event for the Festival of Archaeology. Experience storytelling Saxon-style with a performance of Beowulf around the fire in the longhall.

The Maid of Sker is a romance by RD Blackmore published in 1872, although he had been working on it since 1847. Blackmore regarded it as his finest work, though it is little-remembered compared to his earlier novel, Lorna Doone. It was first serialised in Blackwood's Magazine before being published in three volumes.

Wessex in Fiction: The Maid of Sker The Maid of Sker is a romance by RD Blackmore published in 1872, although he had been working on it since 1847. Blackmore regarded it as his finest work, though it is little-remembered compared to his earlier novel, Lorna Doone. It was first serialised in Blackwood's Magazine before being published....