Welcome to Portsmouth

Welcome to Portsmouth

From the Moderator of the Wessex Synod

Adrian Bulley, Moderator of the Wessex Synod

Adrian Bulley
Moderator, Wessex Synod

Welcome to the city of Portsmouth, and to the Wessex Synod!

For more than five hundred years, Portsmouth has been the home of the British Royal Navy. As you walk around the city you will be struck at every turn by the realisation that the city’s history is intimately connected with that of our sea-faring nation: Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, stands alongside HMS Warrior, Britain’s first iron-clad battleship; the remains of Henry VIII’s 16th century warship, the Mary Rose, which were raised from the sea in 1982, are displayed in the Royal Naval Museum; naval bases and dockyards sprawl along both sides of Portsmouth Harbour.

Portsmouth is known locally as ‘Pompey’ (which is also the name by which the supporters of Portsmouth Football Club - at the time of writing on the verge of promotion to the Premiership - refer to their team). Theories abound as to how the city acquired such a nickname; my favourite links it with India via Portugal. It is said that when the Portuguese took possession of what we now know as Bombay, they called it Bom Bahia, meaning ‘good bay’. On the marriage of Charles II to Catherine de Braganza, Bom Bahia was given to Charles as a wedding present. When the Portuguese seamen brought the Princess to Portsmouth to be married, they noticed some striking resemblances between Bom Bahia and Portsmouth: both are islands, both have good harbours, both are relatively flat and rise only a few feet above sea level. These similarities, coupled with Bom Bahia forming part of the wedding dowry, led the Portuguese seamen to refer to Portsmouth as ‘Bom Bahia’ which, over nearly 350 years, has been anglicised to ‘Pompey’.

Entrance to Portsmouth Harbour

Entrance to Portsmouth Harbour
Image © Portsmouth City Council

Wessex Synod stretches along the south coast from a few miles east of Portsmouth, to the extreme west of Dorset, and ranges from Banbury in the north to the island of Jersey to the south. The synod includes all or part of eight counties (Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight) together with the Channel Islands. Within that diverse geographical area are churches situated in cities, large towns and the fringes of suburban London, and also seaside resorts and rural villages. It is a privilege to serve as Moderator of a synod that is so varied and vibrant, where churches are responding to the call to mission with energy and imagination.

The Wessex Synod is delighted that for the third time in eleven years it has the opportunity to host General Assembly, and it is a particular joy for us that during the opening session one of our own ministers will be inducted as Moderator of General Assembly.

  

Highlights

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Clare Short

Read a summary of Clare Short's keynote speech, given on Monday evening.

Moderator's Address

Read Alasdair Pratt's address to Assembly, 'Exile or Exodus?'

A summary is available here

Have Your Say

Join in the discussion about this year's General Assembly