English heritage rejects plea to save Barnham signalbox

English Heritage has turned down the latest bid to give listed building status to the building at the railway station.

The signal box is set to be demolished once a 25m improvement programme around the station is completed.

The extensive work by Network Rail has involved building a new signal box on the northern side of the railway lines.

The existing wooden signal box dates from 1911 when the Bognor Regis branch line was doubled from single to dual track.

But its days increasingly appear to be numbered, with the improvement scheme set to be finished early next month.

Philip Seely, of English Heritage's heritage protection department, acknowledged that the signal box had survived for almost a century with much of its equipment and fittings intact.

But the amount of modern equipment which had been installed, and original mechanisms disconnected, counted against the building.

"The successful adaptation to new operations has enabled the signal box to be retained to the present day as a fully functioning part of the railway.

"It is unfortunate that this rather handsome signal box could not be retained in future plans for this line.

"Despite being a relatively well preserved and well built signal box, it does not meet the rigorous criteria for listing railway buildings," he continued.

This was due to the signal box being a relatively late example of a traditional signal box, lacking any distinctive architectural quality and innovative or notable or rare equipment.

"Barnham signal box is not particularly rare, even in terms of signal boxes surviving on the national network.

"While losses of signal boxes in the latter 20th cenutry have been considerable, several hundred remain, of which nearly 100 are listed," he added.

A railway insider claimed the original listing survey was unfair because it was carried out by English Heritage with representatives of English Heritage present.

"It would seem that Barnham signal box will be lost due to the biased way that the survey was carried out.

"The only chance we have got of saving this magnificent building is for lots of people to contact our local MP, Nick Herbert."