C O N T E X T 1 3 0 : J U LY 2 0 1 3 7 developed for signal boxes, along with a ‘long shortlist’ of likely candidates. We also drafted ‘standard paragraphs’ (below) which succinctly provide an authoritative background history and quantification to accompany individual advice and list entries. From the 1840s, huts or cabins were provided for men operating railway signals.These were often located on raised platforms containing levers to operate the signals, and in the early 1860s the fully glazed signal box, initially raised high on stilts to give a good view down the line, emerged. The interlocking of signals and points, perhaps the most important single advance in rail safety, patented by John Saxby in 1856, was the final step in the evolution of railway signalling into a form recognisable today. Signal boxes were built to a great variety of different designs and sizes to meet traffic needs by signalling contractors and the railway companies themselves. Signal box numbers peaked at around 12,000–13,000 for Great Britain just prior to the first world war, and successive economies in working led to large reductions in their numbers from the 1920s onwards. British Railways inherited around 10,000 in 1948 and numbers dwindled rapidly to about 4,000 by 1970. In 2012, about 750 remained in use; it was anticipated that most would be rendered redundant over the next decade. The principle agreed between English Heritage and Network Rail was that the outcome would be the listing of the best, and typically most representative, examples of the independently designed signal boxes produced by each of the 19th- and early 20th-century railway companies, together with examples of boxes which demonstrated exceptional engineering and design solutions because of their location.Weight was given to group value with other railway buildings, and to the survival of switch-gear and the like.Work is still in progress, but it is already clear that from the 50-odd boxes under assessment we will be recommending quite a number for listing, to add to the 80 or so already on the list. Complementing the selection guides is a growing number of Introductions to Heritage Assets (IHAs), available at www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/ listing/criteria-for-protection/IHAs/. These are accessible factual overviews of particular asset types, intended to assist in designation assessments as well as having a wider educational value. The first phase of the work saw the drafting, again by English Heritage experts, of 41 IHAs on archaeological site-types, in part to update and complement the 250 or so Monument Class Descriptions used by the Monuments Protection Programme of 1986–96. Next, our new responsibility for maritime designation was facilitated by two IHAs which covered the ships and boats used in English waters for the periods prehistory to 1840, and 1840–1950. These are now being joined by IHAs on particular building types, generally more recent ones for which there is no overview in print. Typically these are buildings under threat of change or demolition, often as a result of change in public policy, which have been identified as targets for work under the NHPP. The first, on coastguard stations, has been published on the English Heritage website, and we anticipate half a dozen or more being added each year. Signal boxes, based on the new understanding outlined above, will soon appear, along with others on public libraries, post-war commercial offices, suburban houses, drill halls, and amusement parks. Paul Stamper, senior adviser in the designation department at English Heritage An early 19th-century corn mill at Staveley, NorthYorks. Surviving original sash windows impart a surprisingly domestic character. Listed Grade II. A 570-metre long line of anti-tank pimples (or ‘dragon’s teeth’) on the Isle of Grain, Kent, listed at Grade II. Increasingly listing is being used as an appropriate way of designating 20th-century military structures of all sorts. This innocent (if quirky) tin shed at Shirewell, Devon, served as a skittle alley from 1932. It began life as a first-class railway carriage, built in 1897 as part of QueenVictoria’s Diamond Jubilee train. Listed Grade II.
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