Bratton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the English county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, about east of Westbury. The village lies under the northern slope of

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

, on the B3098 Westbury –

Market Lavington Market Lavington is a civil parish and large village with a population of about 2,200 on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, south of the market town of Devizes. The village lies on the B3098 Westbury–Urchfont road w ...

road.

History

The massive

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

of the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

known as

Bratton Castle Bratton Castle (also known as Bratton Camp) is a bivallate (two ramparts) Iron Age built hill fort on Bratton Down, at the western edge of the Salisbury Plain escarpment. The hill fort comprises two circuits of ditch and bank which together en ...

(or Bratton Camp) are within the parish. Bratton was a

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

of the ancient parish of Westbury until 1894, when it became a separate civil parish. An agricultural machinery business, R & J Reeves & Son, had a central site in Bratton village which became known as Bratton Iron Works. Begun as a blacksmith in 1799, the company became nationally known in the 19th century and was the largest employer in the area. The firm closed in 1970 and the site is now the village play area. The

Stert and Westbury Railway The Stert and Westbury Railway was opened by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900 in Wiltshire, England. It shortened the distance between London Paddington station and , and since 1906 has also formed part of the Reading to Taunton line fo ...

was built across the parish in 1900. The local station was in the adjacent parish of

Edington Eddington or Edington may refer to: People *Eddington Varmah, Liberian politician *Eddington (surname), people with the surname Places Australia * Eddington, Victoria United Kingdom * Eddington, Berkshire * Eddington, Cambridge * Ed ...

and was called Edington & Bratton; the station closed to passengers in 1952 and to goods in 1963, but the line remains open as part of the

Reading to Taunton Line Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...

Religious sites

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of St James has 14th-century origins and may be on the site of an earlier church. It was rebuilt in the 15th century; the chancel was rebuilt in 1854 by G.G. Scott, with further restoration by T.H. Wyatt in 1860. The church is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. A

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

chapel was built in 1734, enlarged in the 1780s and again in the next century, with the addition of a schoolroom. Pevsner describes the chapel as "externally a gem" and it is Grade II* listed. As of 2018 the chapel is still in use. A

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel was built in 1870 and closed in 1952; the building was demolished in 1957.

Schools

A National School was built at Bratton in 1846 and enlarged in 1877. Also around 1846, a British School was established. In 1928 both schools closed and their pupils moved to a newly built

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire County Council (established in 1889) was the county council of Wiltshire in the South West of England, an elected local Government body responsible for most local government services in the county. As a result of the 2009 restructur ...

school, which became Bratton Primary School and was extended in 1982.

Landmarks

;In the village *A

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

, complete with industrial cog and brick wall, unveiled in 1993 for the R & J Reeves & Sons Iron Works. *A

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in the form of a step-based wheel cross. ;On Westbury Hill *The

Battle of Ethandun At the Battle of Edington, an army of the kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army led by the Dane Guthrum on a date between 6 and 12 May 878, resulting in the Treaty of Wedmore later the same year. Primary s ...

Memorial – a large

sarsen stone Sarsen stones are silicified sandstone blocks found in quantity in Southern England on Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire; in Kent; and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, Dorset, and Hampshire. Geology ...

summounting a base of cemented pebbles, unveiled in 2000. *The

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

beacon placed in 2002. *A

topograph A toposcope, topograph, or orientation table is a kind of graphic display erected at viewing points on hills, mountains or other high places which indicates the direction, and usually the distance, to notable landscape features which can be seen ...

dating from 1968, showing towns and cities which can be seen from the hillside. *

Westbury White Horse Westbury or Bratton White Horse is a hill figure on the escarpment of Salisbury Plain, approximately east of Westbury in Wiltshire, England. Located on the edge of Bratton Downs and lying just below an Iron Age hill fort, it is the oldest ...

–

hill figure A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and r ...

–

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

Roughly a mile west of Bratton is a former Lafarge Cement factory, which was reduced to a distribution site in 2009. The factory had a tall chimney, which was demolished in September 2016.

Notable buildings

Court House, Bratton, Wiltshire, 3 July 2018

The Court House (15th and 17th centuries) and Bratton House (1715 and 1826) are Grade II* listed.

Amenities

The village has a Post Office and village shop, a village hall and a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, ''The Duke at Bratton''.

Bratton Downs Bratton Downs () is a 395.8 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, near the villages of Bratton and Edington, and about east of the town of Westbury. It was notified in 1971. The design ...

is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Notable residents

* Maria Grace Saffery (1773–1858), poet and Baptist hymn-writer, lived in Bratton. * Rebecca Smith (1807–1849), last British woman to be executed for infanticide * Rev. George Whitaker (1811–1882), clergyman and educator * Sir Horace Seymour (1885–1978), British diplomat, Ambassador to China * Major General Sir Jeremy Moore (1928–2007), Commander of British land forces during the Falklands War, lived in the village for over 20 years until his death *

Jack Lauterwasser John Jacob Lauterwasser (4 June 1904 – 2 February 2003) was an English racing cyclist and cycling engineer, who won a bronze and silver medal in the same race at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Background Jack Lauterwasser - he pr ...

(1904–2003), cyclist, silver medal winner at the 1928 Olympics, Amsterdam *

Marjorie Reeves Marjorie Ethel Reeves, (17 July 1905 – 27 November 2003) was a British historian and educationalist. She served on several national committees and was a major contributor to the education of history in Britain. She helped create St Anne's Col ...

(1905–2003), historian and educationalist, author of ''Sheep Bell and Ploughshare: The Story of Two Village Families'' which describes village life

References

External links

Bratton village community website
*
Collection of tools and nameplates
donated by R. & J. Reeves and Son Ltd at the

Museum of English Rural Life The Museum of English Rural Life, also known as The MERL, is a museum, library and archive dedicated to recording the changing face of farming and the countryside in England. The museum is run by the University of Reading, and is situated in Red ...

{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire