Bratton is a medium sized village in Wiltshire, a county in the south west of England, (about 20 miles east of the fabled Stonehenge). It is situated a mile behind the hill upon which the slightly less fabled Westbury White Horse is carved, and is notable for the presence of Bratton Castle, a bronze age hill fort just a few yards behind the chalk horse.
It's hilly
countryside offers breathtaking views across the Marlborough downs towards
Bristol, nearby Devizes and
Trowbridge, as well as over
Salisbury Plain behind it. Much of the latter area, to the south of the
village is owned by the
military and used by them as a live firing range and exercise ground, so the sounds of massive explosions are frequently heard.
Windows rattle at times but most
villagers become used to it and it fades into an
ordinary background noise.
The isolated woods on the edge of the "Ranges" are mostly unspoiled and uncultivated due to the fact that the army own, but do not use a two mile buffer-zone between their activities and the populated area. Some of this area is farmland but the woods in between offer some of the choicest camping and tree climbing known to village children and the proximity to live firing is more of an attraction than a deterrent.