HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE OF BOX

The village of Box is known to railway enthusiasts worldwide because the most difficult engineering problem that Isambard Kingdom Brunel had to solve when building the London to Bristol line was the Box Tunnel which when completed in 1841 was at two miles long the longest tunnel in the world.
An MP argued during a debate in the House of Commons that if the tunnel were built, no one would be brave enough to enter it and in fact at first passengers dismounted at the entrance, climbed the hill and rejoined the train on the other side!
Box, in Wiltshire, is actually world famous for its Bath stone quarries of which Box is probably the best known of the Bath Stone Mines. This is due to its size and complexity. The largest stone mine in the country with many miles of interconnecting passages, which during the war formed part of the largest munitions stores in Europe, an underground city that employed over 4000 personnel living and working in this subterranean city!
Maisie Gay once owned the Northey Arms and was a great pal of Noel Coward, it was not unusual for him to be found behind the bar! Maisie Gay began her stage career in chorus in 1903, now recognised as London's greatest comedienne she toured Australia in "This Year of Grace." Talkie successes, "To Oblige a Lady" and "The Old Man." The only other film she made was the short "The Shaming of the True" in 1930.
She was a big star of review in shows such as Charlot's Review and London Calling. In the latter she first sang the Noel Coward song “There's Life in the Old Girl Yet”. Maisie may have died in 1945 but some locals still refer to the Northey Arms as lets go down to Maisie's!
Carrying on the show business tradition another famous resident of Box is ex Genesis member Peter Gabriel who penned one of his greatest solo hits “Solsbury Hill” inspired by the nearby flat-topped hill at Batheaston, which was once an ancient hill fort.
Another famous ex resident was the Rev. W Awdry of Thomas the Tank Engine fame who lived in the village as a boy and probably got the inspiration for his stories by visits to Brunels Tunnel and Box Station.

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