Bratton Downs


Bratton Downs is a 395.8 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, near the villages of Bratton, Edington and Westbury. It was notified in 1971. The designated area consists mainly of chalk grassland, as well as some ancient woodland, and supports a diverse range of native flora and fauna. It overlays notable geological features—principally landforms created by glaciation in the Pleistocene.

Location

The Bratton Downs SSSI includes parts of the Westbury, Combe, White Cliff, Picquet, Patcombe and Edington Hills, as well as the Combe Bottom, Longcombe Bottom and Lutcombe Bottom combes. The Wessex Ridgeway long-distance footpath passes through part of the SSSI. The Westbury White Horse is located on Westbury Hill on the edge of Bratton Downs. Bratton Camp, an Iron Age hill fort, stands on a top immediately east of the horse; the fort is surrounded by the designated area but does not form part of it.

Vegetation

The main species of grass is upright brome, though tor-grass is also common. In areas of heavy grazing, sheep fescue and meadow oat-grass can take over. Blue sedge, spring sedge , dwarf thistle, salad burnet, burnet saxifrage, and devil’s bit are also common.
Common sainfoin, fern-leaf dropwort, autumn lady's-tresses, chalk milkwort and fragrant orchid are notable grassland species that only grow in areas where fertilisers and herbicides have not been used for a long time.
Patches of scrub with emergent tree species have developed on slopes, common components of which are hawthorn, buckthorn, blackthorn, common holly, wayfaring tree, ash, whitebeam and field maple. Ash and wych elm form two stands on north-facing slopes on the eastern margins of the downs. The ground cover in these woods contains several species typical of those found in ancient woodland.

Fauna

Notable bird species reported in the downs include the lesser whitethroat, common linnet, yellowhammer, goldcrest and European green woodpecker.
More than thirty species of butterfly have been reported from the area, several of which—the marsh fritillary, Duke of Burgundy, chalkhill blue, pearl-bordered fritillary and Adonis blue —are declining in the United Kingdom on account of habitat destruction. Other insects reported include the uncommon burrowing bug species Canthophorus dubius, the green forester, cistus forester, and scarce forester.