Arnside Signal Box

Railway signal box, 1897, for the Furness Railway. Furness Railway Type 4 design.

MATERIALS: Carboniferous Limestone, irregular squared to front, rubble to rear; Devonian Sandstone quoins and other dressings; slate roof with terracotta ridge and finials.

EXTERIOR: two-storey signal box built into the side of the railway embankment so that the locking room on the ground floor appears as a half basement on the trackside. The ground floor has a high, battered plinth to the height of the track bed. It is lit by square, 4-pane windows to the rear and north western end. The upper floor, forming the operating room, is slightly jettied to all sides, marked by a sandstone band. It has continuous glazing to the front and ends, divided up into windows with 4-over-4 panes divided by a single horizontal glazing bar, the front having four such windows. The windows are late C20 replacements designed to match the originals. The entrance is at the south-eastern end, reached by a flight of stone walled steps. The roof is hipped with neatly mitred hips, finished with tall terracotta pointed-ball finials. The chimney, which is to the centre of the rear wall, has been reduced in height, although it still forms an architectural feature as it projects from the rear wall face with prominent quoining, supported from the plinth by three corbels.

INTERIOR: the signal box retains a 1943 London Midland Railway lever frame of 35 levers that was installed in 1957.