This picture of Cerdic was drawn by Juliet Davey & is her copywrite

Im Cerdic, First King of Wessex. The Royal Family of England descends from me. I landed in Briton in 497AD and my Kingdom became the most powerful in the land - it was called Wessex. (West Saxons) and Chard was my first capital. Wessex became England with the amalgamation of Mercia & Northumbria. After the Norman Conquest Wessex was divided up into eight different counties: Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. My site covers the attractions & Events in those eight Counties plus the two GREATER WESSEX counties of Kent & Sussex. Visit the Attractions in the ancient kingdom of Wessex .Stay in our hotels, guesthouses ,caravans or campsites

Our sister site www.mercia.me.uk will be covering a further 12 counties. Those online are listed with a red background above- They are : Cheshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire & Worcestershire so far.

SO NOW WELCOME TO THE LANDS OF THE WESSAXENS, SOUTH SAXONS and ANGLES

Eventually my descendants captured the whole of England and amalgamated Mercia & Northumbria. It is my ambition to eventually cover all the attractions of England. So far we have covered Wessex under the website www.wessex.me.uk and now we have started to cover Mercia under www.mercia.me.uk.

Further we have a multitude of reference pages which were created some time ago and are now under reconstruction. So on here you will find dedicated pages to specialist activities in Wessex & Mercia. These include a list of Agricultural ,Horse Shows etc, The Wessex Hall of Fame, Michelin starred restaurants in Wessex,Seaside Resorts, Theatres in Wessex & the UK, List of Films made in Wessex, Wessex Names, Golf Clubs, Football Clubs, Rugby Clubs, and Racetracks . Campers & Caravanners have their own dedicated section too. I have even got my own page for readers letters and news snippets, mainly from my ancient capital Chard. There is also a full A-Z list of shops services in Chard, Crewkerne & Ilminster. All about Chard & The History of Wessex are also included. A special section on the County Town TAUNTON is also online

As we bring each one of those Counties on-line you will be able to click through to it on the map of Britain to the left. If you think there is anything that should be added do contact me on  Contact Us or call up on 0870 199 3871 or fax on 0870 134 0103. Our address is : 16 High Street, Chard, Somerset TA20 1QB

The carnivals in Somerset date back to 400 years, and are one of the most spectacular events in Somerset today. In some of the bigger locations (such as Bridgwater), you can expect to see crowds of more than 120,000.

The carnival floats (or carts as they are sometimes referred as), are designed and built by dedicated carnival clubs around the West Country. These carnival clubs have many members who raise money throughout the year, and work relentlessly to achieve the spectacular carnival entries. The carnival floats take part in the carnival parade along with other entries; these range from clowns dancing in the streets to 100ft illuminated carnival floats (some with up to 30,000 light bulbs) pulled by tractors.

CHARD CARNIVAL 2005

Location of National Trusts Sites in Wessex