The establishment played an import role in World War II, supporting research on ionospheric propagation under the direction of the Admiralty and Air Ministry which resulted in several novel techniques which benefited the war effort in the war.
As the electronics industry developed the campus expanded during the 1940s and 1950s to include research into radar, general physics, high voltage, vacuum physics and semiconductors. At its peak the Centre employed more than 1,200 engineers, technicians, craftsmen and support staff.
In 1968 the Marconi Company became part of GEC. GEC continued to use the Marconi name for trading, the Research Laboratories, subsequently renamed the GEC-Marconi Research Centre becoming part of Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defence arm of GEC.
In 1999 MES merged with British Aerospace to form BAE Systems and the research centre became the Advanced Technology Centre.
In 2015 the centre joined the Applied Intelligence Business Unit and became the Applied Intelligence Laboratories.
- Notable employees include Sir Christopher Cockerell, Sir Eric Eastwood, Bernard de Neumann – and Peter Wright, author of spycatcher.
- The site still includes a prominent local landmark, a 360-foot (110 m)-high (110 m) former Chain Home radar tower visible across the surrounding countryside.
