Mystery box on wall outside London terrace

[gbscalex]

My son has moved into an old terrace house in London and has this outside his front door... I thought it must be some sort of ventilator (the house has a basement) but it has a loud

speaker inside it. Any ideas?

 

[Mottie]

Ye olde alarm box/intercom?

 

[Notch7]

If it was North Korea there would be millions of these...in use

 

[gbscalex]

Please elaborate....

 

[opps]

I think it may be a very old and basic burglar alarm.

I am only guessing but it looks like there was a button on the left, possibly to arm the system once the door was closed. On the right hand side it looks like there is somewhere to insert a key, possibly to disable the alarm. Again, I am only guessing.

 

[gbscalex]

Thanks but I was thinking something that old would have a bell not loudspeaker? Also odd positioning for something that was presumably designed as a deterrent. I have seen one of these in Cambridge but again no clue as to purpose...

 

[JohnD]

Probably a loudspeaker fitted so a previous resident could listen to the radio. Is it in a position where you might sit on the terrace having tea? Extension speakers used to be quite common before portable radios became ubiquitous.

It looks like it might have a signalling button on the case, these were sometimes found on military speakers to acknowledge messages or orders, so it might have come from a Surplus Store.

Edit
You say next to the front door, so probably an old doorphone. That would also explain the push button.

 

[Koolpc]

Its an intercom for the cat to use.

 

[gbscalex]

The best suggestion I have heard though.....

 

[opps]

Probably a loudspeaker fitted so a previous resident could listen to the radio. Is it in a position where you might sit on the terrace having tea? Extension speakers used to be quite common before portable radios became ubiquitous.

It looks like it might have a signalling button on the case, these were sometimes found on military speakers to acknowledge messages or orders, so it might have come from a Surplus Store.

Edit
You say next to the front door, so probably an old doorphone. That would also explain the push button.

It looks like it is only 12" off the ground. Not an optimal height for a door phone. And why does it have a key "lock"?

 

[opps]

Its an intercom for the cat to use.

Years ago, I used to wonder why some customers had a door bell push really low down on the return part of the door frame. I wondered if it was for the cat to use. I kinda assumed that it was part of the alarm system.

 

[JohnD]

Years ago, I used to wonder why some customers had a door bell push really low down on the return part of the door frame. I wondered if it was for the cat to use. I kinda assumed that it was part of the alarm system.

I saw a house with a yale fitted very low down in the front door, for small children.

 

[Koolpc]

My next door neighbour has a combination entry lock 12" from the floor....

Its for her dog..

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Probably a loudspeaker fitted so a previous resident could listen to the radio. Is it in a position where you might sit on the terrace having tea? Extension speakers used to be quite common before portable radios became ubiquitous.

The speaker appears to be a bit modern for that sort of use.

 

[gbscalex]

Thanks for all the suggestions