Summary

North Eastern Railway overtrack gantry for semaphore signals, 1911, sited at Falsgrave signal box, Scarborough 1934-2010.

Description

Railway signal gantry, by McKenzie and Holland for the North Eastern Railway, 1911, sited at Falsgrave signal box, Scarborough 1934-2010.

Riveted, steel lattice girder construction. The gantry uprights are slightly tapering box frames, the linking bridge supporting simple timber boarding and tubular steel handrails. The gantry carries three dolls (upright posts carrying semaphore signals) above but offset to the left of the lines to which they relate. These are of British Rail pattern, being square section with short, oversailing pyramidal caps. In 2015 the centre doll carried three signal arms, the other two with two each. All are upper quadrant (inclining upwards to show clear) stop signals (square ended, red with a vertical white stripe, white with black stripe to the reverse), the lower signals being smaller indicating that they relate to a change of track requiring a lower speed. As signals on a working line, their arrangement directly relates to the current associated trackwork.

History

The development of semaphore signals for the control of train movements developed from the 1850s. Normally signals were erected singly on posts on the left hand side of the track that they controlled, but as signalling became more complex, especially at junctions, gantries spanning the lines carrying several signals became common. Signal installations were typically made up from standard components and as track formations were altered, signals were modified and relocated as required. Although the style of signal arms was largely standardised nationally, the form of signal posts and gantries varied between railway companies, the use of steel lattice girders being characteristic of the North Eastern Railway (NER) and its successor the London North Eastern Railway (LNER). Since the second half of the C20, traditional semaphore signals have been gradually replaced with coloured light signals. Signal gantries spanning tracks that still retain semaphore signals are nationally rare. The surviving examples on the national rail network identified in England in 2015 are at Hellifield and Harrogate (both only carrying two signals), and Shrewsbury (with only one semaphore remaining). Two, more complex examples remain in use on preserved lines at Kidderminster (Severn Valley Railway) and Bury Bolton Street (East Lancashire Railway).

The semaphore signal gantry at Grosmont was built for the NER by the signalling contractors McKenzie and Holland in 1911 as recorded by its maker’s plate. It is not known where it was originally installed, but it was relocated to Falsgrave signal box on the approach to Scarborough in 1934 to replace an earlier gantry, being one of the seven gantries on the approach to the terminus station at that time. In the 1950s the original NER signals, (which were of lower quadrant type: inclining downwards to indicate a clear line) were replaced with standard British Rail upper quadrant signals (where the arm inclined upwards to clear). Renewal of the signalling saw the gantry decommissioned in 2010, with listed building consent being granted for its removal, alteration and reuse at Grosmont by the North Yorkshire Railway. It was installed to span the three lines forming the northern approach to Grosmont station in 2012, the gantry carrying a new arrangement of signals to serve the needs of the track formation at Grosmont.

Reasons for Listing

The former Falsgrave signal gantry now at Grosmont is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: once very common structures across the national rail network, signal gantries retaining semaphore signals are now very rare;
* Operation: through their active use on a preserved railway, the signals are an active demonstration of how railway signalling operated historically;
* Design: the gantry displays a characteristic lattice girder construction employed by the North Eastern Railway for their signals.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26562572

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
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  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)