Records of colliers passing Tilbury Signal Station on a daily basis for the period 1933-1962, in 25 volumes, with some small gaps and flood water damage. An additional volume is a Factors Day Book with details of accounts for the period September 1957 to July 1974. There is also a photograph of the building, a newscutting from the 'Thurrock Express', 3 June 1976, a bakelite Morse key and a barometer.

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Administrative / biographical background
Tilbury Signal Station was formerly referred to as the Collier Signal Station. It developed out of the need to control the large numbers of colliers entering the port of London and waiting for berths at which to discharge their cargoes. The Coal Factors' Society established an office near to the Custom House at Gravesend in the 1840s. The office was later transferred to a more prominent position on the opposite bank of the River Thames. For many years, it stood on the causeway near to The World's End public house at Tilbury. After the Second World War it moved to a site closer to the gateway of Tilbury Fort. Its function was to identify passing colliers, provide them with instructions, and pass on details of movements to interested parties such as owners, brokers and wharfingers. This scheme of communication with cargo vessels at the entrance to the port became useful beyond the coal trade. Tilbury Signal Station closed in 1977 after more than two hundred years of continuous operation.