Bratton

"BRATTON, a chapelry in the parish and borough of Westbury, hundred of the same name, in the county of Wilts, 3 miles to the E. of Westbury, its post town. It formerly contained the hamlets of Heywood and Hawkeridge, which are now distinct. Wool spinning and carding are carried on here, and there is an extensive iron-foundry for the manufacture of agricultural implements. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Salisbury, and is at present wholly unendowed. The church is dedicated to St. James.

The Baptists have a chapel in the village. There are charitable endowments producing about £35 per annum. On a hill southward of the village is an ancient British camp; called Bratton Castle, nearly a mile in circuit, and comprising an area of 23 acres. The Romans, Danes, and Saxons are said to have occupied this entrenchment. On the hill-side below it is the figure of a white horse, to which an early origin has been assigned, but which is known to have been cut about the middle of the last century. It bears some resemblance to the famous White Horse which gives name to a hill in Berkshire. Various military remains have been found in the neighbourhood."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]