The Bratton History Association was first established in 1990 and ran until 2001. In January 2010 it was re-founded by local history enthusiasts. The Association aims to provide all those curious about their local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Our activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, social events and our own local history project.

Members are also sent a monthly newsletter informing them of local history talks, activities and events in the area.

Meetings

Meetings are held every 3rd or 4th Sunday of each month (except June, July, August and December), at 4 pm or 5pm, at the Church Institute in Bratton. Each meeting includes a talk by a guest speaker on a topic of local or regional interest, although subjects with wider relevance to local historians are also chosen.

Check our list of upcoming events.

Membership and Fees

If you are under 25 year old, your membership is now free. For everyone else there is an annual membership fee of £8 each, or £12 for a couple. In addition, members will be charged £2 per meeting (collected on the door). Guests are welcome, but there will be a non-member’s charge of £4 per meeting. Membership payments can be made at meetings by cash or card, or online by BACS. The BHA account details are available from Mike Manson: Archive@brattonhistory.co.uk.

The Bratton Historical Archive Project

The Project aims to collect, archive, and provide public access to Bratton’s local history.

This involves both cataloguing existing material and recording new research on an online archive accessible to the general public through this website.

A major achievement of this project is Bratton Between Chalk and Cheese, a five-part set of booklets written by Richard Sneyd with assistance from Alison Maddock. The booklets tell the story of Bratton from earliest times up to 1914. They are available for purchase from Mike Manson, Meadow View, 49a Lower Road, Bratton BA13 4RQ at a cost of between £3 and £6 each. They can also be ordered by emailing Archive@brattonhistory.co.uk.

We have recently started an oral history project. This will record the reminiscences of the large number of Bratton residents, and some of the former residents, who lived in the village for a long time in the 20th Century. Once complete, the records will be used to write the sixth part of “Bratton Between Chalk and Cheese”, and will also be published in the archive.

Research Assistance

Although the BHA is always happy to hear from anyone please be aware that we have a very limited capacity to assist people who want to research their family history or other information about Bratton.

If you want to find out such information, we recommend that you first look at the Research Tools section of the Archive (on this website).

Location

View our location on a map.