HER 47631 DESCRIPTION:-

During the second world war, completely new specifications were drawn up for signal box designs, for use at strategic junctions and for new, war-related work. Lansdown Junction is an example of the Great Western box of this period. 45 of this type were erected between 1940 and 1945 icnluding other exampes at Hatherley Junction and Badgeworth in Gloucestershire and the design included extra thick walls and a solid concrete roof. They were designed to resist all but a direct bomb blast. Lansdown Junction was an important junction where the Midland's and Great Western's lines from the Birmingham direction met, and a less important branch to Swindon diverged. The lines south of here were quadrupled in 1942, giving rise to the need to renew the box to control the enlarged layout. The box remained a key location until the commissioning of Gloucester power box in 1968 and was formally abolished in 1977. The box still stands and has also been used as a Scouting headquarters. {Source Work 12759.}