The Signalling Record Society

The Society Archive

The Society's archive was established in the 1980s when premises were first rented to house material accumulated by members. The archive is now housed in a former office building in Kenilworth that we share with the London & North Western Society.

The archive material at Kenilworth is mostly in paper form of considerable variety. The quantity and variety continues to expand as will be seen on our archive catalogue page.

With increasing use of computers for record keeping, some of the archive material is being digitised and made available in that form. Take a look at our digital archive page for more detail.

Whilst part of our photographic collection is looked after by Kidderminster Railway Museum we have been accumulating other collections ourselves.

How to Get to the Archive

The archive is open for research from 10.00 to 16.30 on selected dates which are shown on the calendar page of this web site. On these dates researchers may gain access without giving prior notice - but prior advice to the Archivist would be appreciated.

The SRS Archive is otherwise open by prior arrangement only to members and other bona-fide researchers. For an appointment, or for further information, contact the Archivist.

The archive location is at Unit 6A, Princes Drive, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2FD. Parking for cars is readily available.

Public wi-fi access is available - BTWiFi-with-FON - which is an 'unsecure' connection. Visitors who use BT as their Internet Service Provider should be able to use this free of charge if they have already set up their device to use the service; users of other Internet Service Providers may be able to do so for a fee. Any charges for this are made by BT and neither this Society nor the LNWRS has any control over this.

The Society does not have any computers or scanners of its own but visitors are welcome to bring their own computers, small scanners and cameras with them.

There are no shops close to the archive, the nearest one is at the further end of Common Lane. Visitors should bring any food or drink they may require with them. Kettles are available to heat water for hot drinks and drinking mugs are available.

Getting here by public transport

Nearest railway stations served by long distance trains are Coventry and Leamington Spa. Visit National Rail Enquiries for train times from your nearest station.

A frequent bus service X17 (Coventry to Warwick) passes both Coventry and Leamington Spa stations. Ask the driver to stop at Woodland Road, Kenilworth to let you off. For a current bus timetable look here then enter X17 in the search box and select the appropriate service from the list of X17s offered.

The image on the left marks the walking route from Coventry station main entrance to the X17 bus stop on the railway bridge; and the image on the right marks the walking route from Woodland Road bus stop to the Princes Estate.

Kenilworth station is served on weekdays by an hourly shuttle service running between Coventry and Leamington Spa. No service on Sundays. However, it is not currently served by the X17 or any other bus service and, unless you are a determined long distance hiker, not within walking distance of the archive either. There are a number of taxi operators in Kenilworth and these can be found by entering 'taxi services kenilworth' into your browser's search facility.

Traveline can be consulted for other transport modes.

Donations To The Archive

The Archive continues to grow substantially, both from members’ donations and from official sources. The SRS is committed to working with the Railway Heritage Committee (RHC), The National Archives (TNA), National Railway Museum (NRM) and other statutory bodies, as well as Network Rail, to identify and rescue out-of-date records. A number of members with very substantial collections are known to have left these to the SRS in their Will, and the society seeks to ensure that arrangements are in place for a problem-free transfer of the records when the time comes.

We have produced a guide for donors which can be downloaded and printed out or just viewed in your browser. The guide includes sections setting out our policies, what we do and don't collect, digitisation and conservation.

We are also happy to accept donations of money towards the cost of housing and expandng the archive. If you would like to donate some funds please follow this link to donate.

Signalling Records Held at the National Railway Museum (NRM)

Amongst the material held at the NRM is the “Croydon Collection” of material deposited with them during the privatisation processes of the mid 1990s by the S & T Signal Projects Group of British Railways, Southern Region. It comprises a range of drawings encompassing signal box diagrams, locking charts, wiring arrangements, architectural drawings and so on. Whilst the collection is not fully catalogued, John Creed produced a “Finding Aid” to help searchers locating documents in the collection.

The NRM accession number for the collection is NRM 1996-7909 and consists of 187 cardboard filing boxes.

Viewing of the documents requires a visit to the Search Engine at the NRM and advanced ordering is necessary giving them at least one week's notice. Current terms and conditions, requirements regarding identification and opening hours will be found here on the NRM's web site.