Gorse Hill Bridges Signal Box is a Grade II listed building in the Wiltshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 17 April 1986. Signal box.

Gorse Hill Bridges Signal Box

WRENN ID
odd-cinder-elder
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Wiltshire
Constituency
South Cotswolds MP: Dr Roz Savage (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
17 April 1986
Type
Signal box
Address
Gorse Hill Bridges Signal Box, Tadpole Lane, Purton
OS grid reference
SU 109 897
Coordinates
51.60661, -1.84322
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Gorse Hill Bridges Signal Box is a signal box built around 1870 by Saxby and Farmer for the Great Western Railway Company, specifically for the Broad Gauge. It features timber framing and weatherboarding, with an original zinc roof that is currently undergoing restoration as of June 1985. The structure retains its original studding with grooved weatherboarding and roofline. Modifications include a temporary base, and the original brick stack has been removed and boarded over, along with changes to the external stair and the installation of 5-light sliding sash windows. Inside, there is a Great Western 5-bar vertical frame and an instrument shelf, both designed by Saxby and Farmer. This signal box is significant as an example of the new semaphore signalling system introduced around 1870, with further modifications made by the company until 1913. It was relocated from Gorse Hill in Swindon and re-erected at its current site.

Local climate

Gorse Hill Bridges Signal Box receives an average of 790 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 59% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 56% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 36 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 65% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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