Description

TQ 04NW GUILDFORD PEWLEY HILL
(North Side)
4/171
1/5/53 Semaphore House

II

Semaphore station. Constructed circa 1820 by the Admiralty, with later C19 wings.
Cement render with rusticated quoins, tile hung central tower under lead dome,
slate and tile roofs to remainder. Square tower surmounted by later octagonal
turret to centre flanked by lower side wings. Two-storey side wings with rear
stacks to left and right, 3-storey tower. Entrance to rear:- rusticated angle
quoins to centre and ends, plat band over ground floor. Plate glass sash fenes-
tration with two windows on each floor of each side wing, and on upper floors of
tower. Balustraded parapet to tower with panelled newels. Central flat-roofed
porch, half-glazed with anthemion.and honeysuckle pattern ironwork on lower part,
door to centre. Right hand return front (facing Semaphore Road):- Gable end with
two storey projecting bay, rusticated angle quoins and plat band. Tripartite sash
window to ground floor, C20 casements above. Rear (North front) - irregular C19
and C20 mixed fenestration.
One of a line of Semaphore stations from London to Portsmouth, some of which were
built on the site of earlier shutter telegraphs used during the Napoleonic Wars.
Each station originally comprised an octagonal tower with signalling room and
living accommodation for the lieutenant in charge. Signalling was by means of two
moveable arms attached to a pole surmounting the tower. Of seven stations originally
in Surrey only three remain, the others being at Telegraph Hill (Cooper's Hill), &
Chately Hill both in the borough of Elmbridge.

G. WILSON: THE OLD TELEGRAPHS (1976)
M. ALEXANDER: GUILDFORD AS IT WAS (1978)

Listing NGR: TQ0022949197

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26658331

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)