English Heritage report on Signalboxes in England

English Heritage recently compiled a report on Signalboxes in England, and heritage railways' boxes are mentioned (with praise!). The report is at http://services.english-heritage.org.uk/ResearchReportsPdfs/028-2012WEB.pdf

I'll start the ball rolling. The report mentions include 'my' SVR:

"...and three on the Severn Valley Railway, all good examples in their original locations and in excellent condition; Bewdley North (1878), Bewdley South (date not known) and Highley (1883). All three would be potential listing candidates." (Page 9)
"while the box formerly at Yorton (1882), now moved to Arley on the Severn Valley Railway, is a well-preserved all-timber box." (Page 27)

Enjoy!

Patrick

 

Oh dear...clearly they didn't look too hard at the steps at Arley...

 

Good to see so many Heritage 'boxes on the list in Appendix 2 as well as all my local 'boxes - Cuxton, Aylesford, Snodland and Maidstone West

 

funny they seem to be concentrating just on the ones in situ, whereas those restored at heritage railways in different locations, stilll doing the job they was designed for, seems to me to be more preserved than the ones tha are in situ but derelict.

 

Can you imagine What will the S&C look like without signals and signal boxes in a few years time ?

 

I'd rather not. And I don't suppose NR would take kindly to an approach from the railway heritage community to keep such things going purely for cosmetic purposes.

 

NR are happy for signalboxes to be transferred to new uses if it's possible operationally; ie access and ideally maintenance is possible without need to walk on the operational railway. I would imagine this is possible for many of the S&C boxes?

The reason the report concentrates on the National Network rather than preserved lines is that it was commissioned in response to the announcement from NR last year of their intention to phase out traditional signalboxes over the next couple of decades. This report establishes which ones are architecturally significant, which will be useful in the future in determining whether they should be retained or not. Fair play to EH for being forward-thinking, nice to see a bit of proactivity.

 

I hope that CADW and Historic Scotland are undertaking similar studies.

 

NR are indeed happy - Cromer, Wroxham, Settle and of course St Albans South (which EH describe in their report as "much larger than average...") are all examples where preservation has occured - although both Wroxham and Settle have been moved a little from their original positions. So it's not impossible!

John Webb
Trustee/Publicity Officer, St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust

 

I would love to save Ferryside Signal Box on its eventual retirement, if I could. I have a '47 pattern with 'Ferryside' pencilled in copperplate on the base, which I would imagine is from it or the next 'box along.

 

Is Botley box still in existance? I was always rather fond it !

 

If you mean Botley in Hampshire, then I'm not certain.
This photo at Derelict Signal Box at Botley Railway Station:: OS grid SU5213 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square! was taken in 2006 and it was in a rather sorry state then.

 

I wish they would do the same for goods sheds. There are some very sad examples just about hanging on, roofs collapsed, broken windows, fire damaged etc. Often stations have been saved by converting to houses, but few folks seem to love a goods shed.

 

I have often thought it sad, though understandable, that Goods Sheds are rarely restored in their own right, but converted to other uses. Thinking of my railway, Bridgnorth, Bewdley and both the big 'uns at Kiddy are doing quite different jobs to what they were built for. It would be nice to visit a restored Goods Shed with effective interpretation of the importance of goods in our railway history. The only ones that occur to me are Bury Transport Museum (sort of) and Holt.

 

That's the plan for the Kingscote Goods Yard project at the Bluebell. The Cattle Dock has already been restored; a 5 ton ex-LBSC crane has been sourced from Singleton station and will be erected next (courtesy of the West Dean estate); followed by some ancilliary buildings (coal office, goods office etc) constructed from recovered bricks &c from some LBSC railwaymen's cottages that were being knocked down at Haywards Heath; and finally the ex Horsted Keynes Goods Shed (which is a fairly simple wooden structure, not the more familiar stone or brick "drive through" type) will act as an interpretation building to tie the whole project together. The overall aim is to demonstrate what a small country goods yard would have been like in steam days. See Bluebell Railway - Kingscote Goods Yard Project

Unfortunately, buildings (and heritage ones at that) are expensive to maintain. So if they aren't going to fall into rack and ruin, it is probably inevitable that they will find other uses - afterall, the days of actually needing a goods shed are long gone. So probably inevitable that they end up as cafes (Goathland), museums (Kidderminster), function rooms (Alresford) etc; the other possible use is for railway workshop (Swanage) or storage purposes (Dunster). Better that than they get swept away or fall into dereliction. At least if done sensitively (and Goathland is a good example) the public get some opportunity to see the building.

Now, anyone got an imaginitive use for the ex-Water Tower at Horsted Keynes? :smile:

Tom

 

Oh I quite agree better reused than demolished. Just it'd be nice to see a little interpretation - I look forward to visiting Kingscote in a few years time.

 

There's a really good goods shed thats well restored at Chappel & Wakes Colne (East Anglian Railway Museum)