Woolston Signal Box

The Woolston Signal Box is a two-storey rectangular structure dating from the 19th century, built of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern. The building is situated on a railway platform, with the lower storey forming a semi-basement.

The exterior features a broad brick panel which divides the glazing on the front elevation, flanked by a pair of distinctive four-pane timber Yorkshire sash windows with curved framing at the head on each side. Similar windows are found on the end walls. The windows are set in timber frames resting on projecting painted stone window sills that wrap around the north-west and north-east corners. Originally, the window frames had transoms with rectangular toplights. Two flat-arched locking-room window positions on the north wall have been bricked up. An original painted timber name board with the word 'Woolston' in relief is fixed to the central brick panel.

A flight of five brick steps with chequered blue tile treads leads down to a doorway in the west elevation, providing access to the sunken lower storey containing the locking room. Steps rise from the platform to a centrally positioned timber landing, supported by struts on the west elevation. Timber posts support inclined handrails and single side rails along the steps and landing. A timber-panelled open porch, with a mono-pitch roof, shelters the operations room door. A secondary timber frame with corrugated sheeting protects the steps to the locking room. A secondary lean-to signalman’s closet is attached to the south elevation. The hipped slate roof has dark grey ridge tiles. A conical galvanised steel ventilator is situated on the southern slope. The roof overhangs, forming eaves with sloped timber soffits and cast-iron rainwater goods fixed to verge boards.

The operations room is accessed through a four-panel door, likely originally glazed at the top two panels, from the porch. The room’s brick walls are painted and the southern wall is timber-lined. The timber soffit of the hipped roof is clad in painted boards and the exposed tie-beams of the roof trusses are visible. The locking room has a framed ledged and braced door and is devoid of any fittings. A blocked rectangular recess at floor level in the north wall shows where point rods and signal cables exited the room. The ends of three cantilevered timber beams that support the landing pass through the west wall and project into the room.