Bratton Castle is A Bronze Age earth fortress atop a hill approximately a mile outside the village of Bratton, Wiltshire, in south west England. It overlooks Westbury White horse, a giant two dimensional carving in the chalky slopes below, and Westbury itself, a quiet ex-market town about 2 miles to the west.
It is thought that it was constructed sometime between 300 BC and AD 43, and it encloses an area of 25 acres, now grazed by sheep. In the center of the fortress is a burial mound (one of many in the area) which possibly pre-dates it though next to nothing is known for sure.
In construction is it similar to nearby Maiden Bradley Castle in that it is two rings of mounded earth with a ditch on the outside of each, one within other and from the east has an elaborately fortified entrance, and it's walls were probably barricaded with sharp wooden stakes when it was in use. There is also a theory that the Danes used it during their retreat from King Alfred's Saxon army after the battle of Ethendune, which is said to have taken place nearby.
In more recent times it has been location of a few of the crop circles of the late 80s - early 90s and was used in August 1990 by the BBC and various Japanese TV companies, with help from the military, as a base for their "Operation Blackbird", an attempt to capture on camera the formation of one of these phenomina.
It is also a popular hang out spot for local drug users and horny couples from both Bratton and Westbury, and until it was fenced of by the local parish council was used as a dirt bike course until parts of it began to suffer severely from erosion. Hence it is now easily the most patrolled area in the locality by the regional police.