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Castletown Airfield
Decontamination Building (20th Century)
Site Name Castletown Airfield
Classification Decontamination Building (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Thurdistoft
Canmore ID 202462
Site Number ND26NW 36.04
NGR ND 21170 67668
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/202462
- Council Highland
- Parish Olrig
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
NS26NW 36.04 21170 67668
A WW II gas decontamination centre is situated in a field about 170m E of Thurdistoft farmsteading (ND26NW 43).
Constructed of brick and concrete with a flat roof with two chimneys/ventilation shafts and consists of a series of chambers to allow the decontamination from gas attack of service personnel.
The double entrance was at the SE end allowing for wounded and unwounded personnel through an air-lock to the first chamber which was for stripping contaminated clothing. Still discernable is a painted notice in this room stating ' Dirty Side' and another, 'Clean Side'. Slots in each side of the building allowed contaminated clothing to be disposed of to the outside.
The remainder of the building leads through corridors each side to a showering chamber, followed by a 'dressing area' which contained clean clothes to then lead to a waiting area and exit through an airlock. At the NW end are the remains of an air filtration unit.
The building is to a standard design and can be found on several other airfields thorughout the country and would appear to be a late expansion period type Type J, 1097/40.
Visited by RCAHMS (DE), 14 August 2000
