One last look at Barnham's doomed signal box

They perfectly capture the layout of a building which is close to celebrating 100 years of use.

The millions of passengers who travel through Barnham every year '“ from Bognor Regis, Chichester, Portsmouth, Brighton and further afield from London '“ rely on the levers which have worked the points around the busy junction since 1911.

The coloured levers are the 40 of the full layout of 75 which until recently were in daily operation. They are slowly being made redundant as the extensive resignalling works by Network Rail around the junction see the points changed to digital technology.

The modernisation is due to finish during the May bank holiday weekend. A new brick-built signal box on the northern side of the station will begin operations.

A railway insider told the Observer: "The current signal box closes on May 2 and it's going to be gutted on that day. It will be demolished by the end of the month.

"It upsets me to think that all that history will be gone. The signal box is all but 100 years old."

The box's fate was sealed when a bid to get it listed as a historic building was rejected by English Heritage.

The organisation was approached last June to consider the case of the signal box, located at the western end of platforms one and two.

But two of its advisors ruled that the structure was insufficiently early and unusual, as well as being isolated from other historical buildings to be worthy of listing.

Their report states: "Barnham signal box dates to 1911 and is of a design that was introduced by the London and Brighton South Coast Railway about a decade earlier.

"The design of the signal box can be said to be of a fairly standardised nature, similar to large numbers of contemporary signal boxes and derived from signal box design as it had arisen since the third quarter of the 19th century."

It boasts some attractive features '“ such as sliding sash windows and roof finials '“ but is architecturally unremarkable and typical of a signal box of its date, they say. They reject the fact that it is the last surviving example of its type as being important because that variant made little contribution to the historical development of signal boxes.

Despite this, they acknowledge the signal box contains traditional equipment such as brass-rimmed block indicator dials, brass repeaters (bells) and other brass and wooden-cased signalling display equipment. All are well maintained.

The only glimmer of hope offered in their report is the prospect of the signal box interesting railway preservation groups because of its local importance.

The rail insider said that 850 names had been gathered on a petition which called for the signal box to be kept.

Time, however, was against any attempt to preserve it even if Network Rail was willing.

An appeal has been lodged with English Heritage against its listing rejection.

This, though, will not be decided until June by which time the building could well be gone.

The Observer reported last week that extensive disruption to train services to and from Bognor will occur from April 21 while the resignalling work is completed by Network Rail.

It forms part of an extensive 25m programme of modernisation around Barnham station.

The new signal box will also eventually take over the work of the existing signal boxes in Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Chichester and along to Lancing.