Barnham signal box's six-month extension

The backers of the Edwardian structure now have until September to raise some 35,000 needed to remove it from the village's railway station.

Rail infrastructure owner Network Rail has agreed to put back the removal of the signal box from its original date in March.

Save Barnham Signal Box Campaign member Mike Burton said: "The Railway Heritage Trust has confirmed it would be willing to provide some of the funding required to resurrect the signal box in a new location on the basis that the community raises the balance.

"We estimate we will need to find in the region of 35,000. We already have some pledges of support from residents and businesses but we need to raise further funds urgently."

The amount given so far is being kept confidential at the moment because the firms involved do not yet want to divulge the amount they have provided.

The wooden signal box was put up in 1911 and is believed to be the last remaining Edwardian example of its type.

It was decommissioned last November when a new signalling centre came into use.

Network Rail planned to demolish the box but rail users and villagers were alarmed at the prospect of nearly a hundred years of heritage ending up in a skip.

They persuaded the railway company to put the demolition on hold while they devised plans to save the signal box.

The supporters and Network Rail are now working together to move the signal box to land at Aldingbourne Community Sports Centre in Westergate about two miles from the station.

A feasibility study commissioned by Network Rail confirmed it is viable to lift and transport the signal box intact without it being dismantled.

More details about the campaign from Mr Burton, 37 Oak Tree Lane, Woodgate, Chichester, PO20 3GU, 01243 542436 or 07795 237167 or [email protected].

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