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
Wessex Basin Kimmeridge oilfield is an offshore field that was first discovered in the 1950s is the largest in the area and is still in production to this day. Wytch Farm is the major onshore field that entered production during the 1970s. This basin stems from three major source rocks known as the Blue Lias formation with Liassic clays, the Oxford Clay formation, and the Kimmeridge clay formation. Wessex Basin The Wessex Basin is a petroliferous geological area located along the southern coast of England and stretches into the English Channel. The on land area the basin covers comes close to approximately