Five ? It is just a bare multi stranded bit of copper. They aren’t connected, PSTN would have been affected (forever)

They are quite a common thing, but I suppose if you aren’t looking, you don’t see them.

In reply to a post by No_One:

What is/was a party line?

Here speaks a youngster

In reply to a post by No_One:

What is/was a party line?

to my knowledge a telephone line shared by 2 properties, which had different ring tones depending who was called.

I am sure if I am wrong someone will correct me

In reply to a post by No_One:

What is/was a party line?

Seek and ye shall receive:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony)

From the provided wiki link.

In the system of divided ringing, the ringing circuit was separated from the talking circuit by adding a ground connection between the central office and the subscriber stations for ringing. On the same subscriber line, one party used the tip side of the line and ground for ringing, whilst the other party on the same line used the ring wire and ground for ringing, to achieve full selectivity for two-party lines, in which only the selected station would ring

The classic old lineman's tale is of the household dog being tied to the earth wire and the customer reporting the phone doesn't ring, the dog barks instead.

The party line telephone also had a 'call exchange' button which earthed one of the legs in order to pull a dial tone. This enabled accurate billing.

As repeatedly said, there is nothing to be gained by messing with the earth wire. It is disconnected.

Edited by partial (Thu 12-Nov-20 10:41:04)

Or simply cut? Could that cause a problem, as wouldn't it create an unterminated bridge tap?

One thing seems certain to me. That it is still connected inside that box. If it had been opened and disconnected it would not have been left entering it.

Earth wires connected to a circuit doesn't cause a 'bridge tap' it causes an earth fault.

The party line switched the earth via the party line phone. It was never connected directly to the A and B wires in block terminals.

I said it might have been cut, meaning elsewhere outside the box. It would not then be an earth wire! 😎

Regardless of whether it is connected to earth or not, it will not be connected to anything inside the box. It will be terminated on an otherwise unused terminal.
If it were connected to the line in any way, it would present itself as an earth fault and be audible during a call.

As has already been explained several times, the earth was used as part of a shared service. The earth was connected via a switch inside the telephone, not directly to the line. If the telephone (and hence switch) have been removed, the earth is no longer connected to anything.

All these people telling me I'm wrong, when they have no idea whatsoever what is connected inside that box. So far I have shown that none of them know.

Here's a little question for you.

If it is connected to an otherwise unused terminal, what did it ever do? The answer seems to be here:

In reply to a post by partial:

From the provided wiki link.

In the system of divided ringing, the ringing circuit was separated from the talking circuit by adding a ground connection between the central office and the subscriber stations for ringing. On the same subscriber line, one party used the tip side of the line and ground for ringing, whilst the other party on the same line used the ring wire and ground for ringing, to achieve full selectivity for two-party lines, in which only the selected station would ring

So it was and quite possibly still is connected. If you can tell from the initial photo what is connected to what, and what isn't, you are one very clever person indeed.

I suggest for a starter that there are two strands of twisted wires. A pair from the right disappears into the insulation on the left, and some others go down beside the white cable.

Nobody on this forum knows what has been done inside or outside that connector box since it was (presumably) properly wired up some time ago. Many seem to be assuming that whatever disconnecting has been done has been carried out by a BT engineer, or a contractor, or a house wiring electrician, or a DIY job, and done correctly.

Of course none of those ever does a slapdash job. (In case of doubt about that list, I have never known a GPO/BT/Openreach engineer be slapdash. It's just a list of the possible disconnectors. I would be amazed if a "BT" one was involved in leaving the assembly looking like that).

The amassed wisdom is that there cannot possibly be any problem with that wire. It/they never rang external bells so people in the front or back garden could hear there was an incoming call?

I respectfully suggest those wires are connected to an in-use terminal inside that box. Where they go and how they end outside none of us know, though I largely accept this post:

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

The earth wire isn’t connected to your pair. You’d have a huge earth ‘hum’ over the dial tone ... and it would test faulty (which you’d hope might have been picked up at some point since the property was built)

I don't think however that rules out those wires being connected inside the box but disconnected and non-earthed somewhere in the building.