Bratton, Wiltshire


Bratton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, about east of Westbury. The village lies under the northern slope of Salisbury Plain, on the B3098 Westbury – Market Lavington road.

History

The massive earthworks of the Iron Age hill fort known as Bratton Castle are within the parish.
Bratton was a tithing 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 was built across the parish in 1900. The local station was in the adjacent parish of Edington 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.

Religious sites

The Church of England parish church 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.
A Baptist 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 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 school, which became Bratton Primary School and was extended in 1982.

Landmarks

;In the village
;On Westbury Hill
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

The Court House and Bratton House are Grade II* listed.

Amenities

The village has a Post Office and village shop, a village hall and a pub, The Duke at Bratton.
Bratton Downs is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Notable residents