Page "Wessex" Paragraph 6

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric, chieftains of a clan known as the Gewisse, who were said to have landed on the Hampshire coast and conquered the surrounding area, including the Isle of Wight.

However, the specific events given by the Chronicle are in some doubt: archæological evidence points instead to a considerable early Anglo-Saxon presence in the upper valley of the river Thames, the Cotswolds area and from The Wash along the Icknield Way.

The centre of gravity of Wessex in the late 6th and early 7th century seems to have lain farther to the north than in later periods, following successful expansion to the south and west.

Bede stated that the Isle of Wight was settled not by Saxons but by Jutes, who also settled on the Hampshire coast, where they were known as the Meonwara, and that these areas were only acquired by Wessex in the later 7th century.

It is therefore possible that the Chronicles account is a product of the circumstances of the 8th and 9th centuries being projected back into the past to create an origin story of the ruling kinship appropriate to the contemporary form of the kingdom.