Wessex in classical heraldry and is found on a number of church windows in derived shields such as the Arms of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster (Westminster Abbey, which was founded by the king). At its greatest extent Wessex encompassed the modern areas of Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset and Wiltshire, as well as the western half of Berkshire and the eastern hilly flank of Somerset. This covers an area of about . The English author Thomas Hardy used a fictionalised Wessex as a setting for many of his novels, adopting his friend William Barnes' term "Wessex" for
Richard Armstrong (author) ("The Secret Sea"). Armstrong had a son, John, to whom he dedicated his book "Sailor's Luck". He died in 1986. Richard Armstrong (author) Richard Armstrong (18 June 1903 – 30 May 1986) was an English author who wrote for both adults and children. Most of his books were novels set at sea, or sea stories. For one of those, "Sea Change", he won the 1948 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. He is also known for a biography of Grace Darling in which he challenges the conventional story: "Grace Darling: