Valley Station signal box, Anglesey

Valley Station signal box is a Grade II listed, 2-storey, timber built signal box located near the railway station in Valley, Anglesey, North Wales.

Valley Station signal box
Valley Station signal box in March 2019
General information
Address	Valley railway station, Anglesey, North Wales
Coordinates	53.281369°N 4.563075°W / 53.281369; -4.563075
Year(s) built	Mid-19th century
Technical details
Material	Timber
Floor count	2
Designations
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Valley Station Signal Box
Designated	19 January 1998
Reference no.	19233[1]

Located directly north-west of the level crossing on the B4545 road, the signal box is thought to have been built in the middle of the 19th century as one of 15 new huts built along the Chester and Holyhead Railway.

The signal box was designated a Grade II listed building on 19 January 1998.^[1]

In 2021 the signal box underwent restoration works following the discovery of wet rot within the building.^[2]

History

The signal box at Valley was opened in 1903 by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), a major pre-grouping railway company operating in North Wales during the early 20th century. Its construction coincided with infrastructure expansion to handle increasing passenger and freight traffic linked to Holyhead Port, a major ferry connection to Ireland.^[1]

The structure is a two-storey timber signal box built to the standard LNWR design. It has a pitched slate roof, timber framing, large multi-paned sash windows on the operating floor for visibility of the railway line, and a brick base. The ground floor originally accommodated equipment and stores, while the upper storey is the operating room.^[1][3]

Valley signal box has remained in use through various phases of British railway history, including both World Wars, during which troop and mail trains passed through the station.^[4] It continued to function during the nationalisation era under British Railways and throughout infrastructure modernisation efforts of the late 20th century.^[5]

Operations and significance

The signal box continues to control a section of the North Wales Coast Line between Holyhead and Bangor, including a level crossing that provides vehicular access to the nearby airfield and surrounding area.^[1]

Despite wider adoption of digital signalling systems, Valley signal box remains in manual operation. It has been included in discussions surrounding Network Rail’s signalling modernisation plans, which propose the eventual decommissioning of many manual boxes.^[5]

Preservation groups and railway heritage organisations have advocated for its retention due to its architectural and operational significance as a surviving early 20th-century signal box.^[6] It also draws interest from railway enthusiasts, given the diminishing number of such structures remaining in service.^[7]