Readers may have noticed that the Rye signal box is being repainted. As a Grade II listed building, the structure has an interesting history. According to Historic England:
“Rye signal box is located on the Ashford to Hastings line built by the South Eastern Railway and completed in 1851. The signal box is situated opposite the 1851 station by William Tress. It was built in 1894 and the operating room retains its original 1888 pattern duplex frame. It is an example of a Saxby & Farmer Type 12 design. In the mid-1880 Saxby & Farmer moved away from hipped roof designs to gabled boxes and the Type 12 design was built in some numbers for the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham & Dover Railway between 1890 and 1894.”
One wonders whether the decorators have been instructed to correct the typography of the sign which reads Rye SignaL Box. Maybe this is too historic to alter.
Image Credits: Rye News library , Heidi Foster .