Wessex

Wessex (/ˈwɛsᵻks/; Old English: Westseaxna rīce, "kingdom of the West Saxons") was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from 519 until England was unified by Æthelstan in the early 10th century.

The Anglo-Saxons believed that Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric, but this may be legend. The two main sources for the history of Wessex are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, which sometimes conflict. Wessex became a Christian kingdom after Cenwalh was baptised and was expanded under his rule. Cædwalla later conquered Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight. His successor, Ine, issued one of the oldest surviving English law codes and established a second West Saxon bishopric. The throne subsequently passed to a series of kings with unknown genealogies.

During the 8th century, as the hegemony of Mercia grew, Wessex largely retained its independence. It was during this period that the system of shires was established. Under Egbert, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Essex, and Mercia, along with parts of Dumnonia, were conquered. He also obtained the overlordship of the Northumbrian king. However, Mercian independence was restored in 830. During the reign of his successor, Æthelwulf, a Danish army arrived in the Thames estuary, but was decisively defeated. When Æthelwulf's son, Æthelbald, usurped the throne, the kingdom was divided to avoid war. Æthelwulf was succeeded in turn by his four sons, the youngest being Alfred the Great.

Wessex (disambiguation)

Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in early medieval England.

Wessex or West Saxon may also refer to:

Morningside Place, Houston

Morningside Place is a subdivision located in Houston, Texas, United States.

The subdivision is not to be confused with Morningside Place, a development in southern unincorporated Harris County, Texas outside Beltway 8 which uses "Houston" addresses.

History

The subdivision began in September 1999 when the Bliss Court, Brantwood, Carolina Place, Wessex, and Windermere subdivisions joined into one organizational entity.

In 2001 the civic association received $5,000 matching grant funds from the Matching Grant Program of the City of Houston Planning and Development Department. The funds were used to install a decorative lighting system on Morningside Street, consisting of several wrought iron, old-style light poles. The association obtained the poles from Houston Lighting & Power for $12,000. Patrick Reynolds of the Houston Chronicle said "[t]he globes will cast a soft, frosted glow onto Morningside."

Cityscape

The community, located east of Kirby Drive, is located between Southgate and the City of West University Place. It is in proximity to the Texas Medical Center, Rice University, and Rice Village. In 1999 Katherine Feser of the Houston Chronicle said that the location was one of the "selling points" of the Windermere community.

Wessex Bus

Wessex Bus is a bus operator in the West of England.

History

In June 2007 the bus side of the South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach was purchased by Rotala subsidiary Flights Hallmark trading as Wessex Connect. The purchase included 68 buses and was completed in stages until 31 March 2008, this being dictated by Bristol City and South Gloucestershire Councils needing to approve the transfer of the routes.

In September 2011 Wessex moved into a new depot which was a specially converted former timber yard on St Andrew's Road, Avonmouth. The move allowed Wessex to set up a new regional head office for the south west operations where all the maintenance requirements could be met. The previous depot, which was owned by South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach, was operating at near full capacity following the growth of both businesses.

Wessex Star

A major contract included with the purchase of South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach was the University of the West of England (UWE) Student Shuttle services. The UWE Flyer service was one of the first routes that Wessex Connect ran for South Gloucestershire, and soon after the Student Shuttle and Bower Aston shuttle. From September 2007 UWE in conjunction with Rotala developed a network of routes based around linking the satellite campuses of Bower Ashton, St Matthias and Glenside, with Frenchay campus and student accommodation on a cost contract basis. The services were branded as Ulink, to provide a new high-quality low-cost bus service for students and staff.