Signal Box

SIGNAL BOX, HIGH STREET, LINCOLN

A railway signal box of GNR1 (Great Northern Railway type 1) built in 1874 for the Great Northern Railway, with an extension added in 1925.

The box is constructed of yellow brick with a slate roof and timber panelling on the upper floor. The locking room features three 4-pane sash windows with stone lintels and cills on the track side, along with a name board. A dentilated platband runs below the operating room windows, and a narrow timber walkway sits on iron brackets. The operating room is lit by 4-pane Yorkshire lights extending on three sides. The gable ends are clad in vertical timber panelling with narrow horizontal windows at the top. The rear elevation is entirely of brick with a single 4-pane sash window at operating room level. The gabled roof is finished with plain bargeboards, turned spike finials, and fleur-de-lys ridge cresting. A chimney stack with dentilated capping stands on the north-east corner.

On the east side, a metal staircase leads to the operating room door. A toilet booth and name board are also positioned here. The 1925 extension is attached to the west side and is constructed as a miniature version of the original box. Its locking room has a single 4-pane sash window on the track side with lintel and cill matching the Victorian originals. A dentilated platband appears on the west side with a narrow walkway on iron brackets. The operating room is fully glazed with Yorkshire lights matching the original, with vertical timber panelling and a narrow horizontal window on the gable end. The slate roof matches the pitch and bargeboards of the original. An opening to the left of the locking room window has been bricked up.

The interior houses a 36-lever frame fitted in 1892, which has undergone some modification.

High Street Signal Box was built by the Great Northern Railway in 1874 as an early surviving example of a GNR box; only Barnby Moor & Sutton (1872) predates it. GNR signal boxes were the least standardised of any major railway companies' designs, being frequently contracted out to local builders. While designs were broadly set from 1871—featuring gabled roofs with elaborate bargeboards and finials—each box built in the 1870s differed in detail. High Street combines the typical gabled roof and finials with uncommon fleur-de-lys ridge cresting. Beyond controlling railway signalling, the box also operates the level crossing barriers and traffic signals. The 1925 extension was built to meet operational needs when the crossing gates were electrified.