The remediation of radioactive and chemical contamination at a former MOD research centre and luminising facility

Ditton Manor Park comprises of a listed, moated manor house with various out buildings, which have been extended and used as workshops and laboratories. The manor house is situated in extensive parkland to the north and south. The site incorporated a bowling green and cricket pitch, paddocks, a former allotment area and a Scout Hut. On its northern boundary it also included a waste tip, more workshops (No. 4 Workshop) and a wooded area. The Ministry of Defence owned the site for the major part of the twentieth century. It was used for the manufacture and testing of compasses and development of navigation systems. The former of these activities involved the use of radium-based luminising paints. As a result of the activities undertaken on the site localised areas of the ground and buildings became contaminated, principally by radium and mercury. (author)