There are several villages in Wales called Sarnau. The
word, in the Welsh language means five roads crossing, a word that has no
equivalent in English. But only one of these villages possessed a station and
signal box, and that was the one located just west of Carmarthen on the Great
Western's main line to Fishguard.
Boxes to this design were built by the Great Western Railway between 1880 and 1889, though few now remain. Sarnau was a particularly splendid example in that it retained its original frame until closure. It is fortunate that the box was chosen to be preserved by Scolton Manor Country Park, although only the top portion survives.
Another style of box was introduced from 1883, and an example is illustrated at Moreton-in-Marsh.
To enter Sarnau box was to take a step
back in time. The original twist-locking frame of just fourteen levers had
survived. The levers that once controlled the few points here, and the level
crossing levers, all stand nearer to the vertical and forward from the levers
working the running signals. This is a feature found on a number of early lever
frames, although the significance of this is unclear. At the far end of the
frame is the gate wheel (sometimes referred to as a "crab" which controls the
level crossing gates.