Barnstaple Town railway station

Barnstaple Town
The station in 1964
Location
Place	Barnstaple
Area	North Devon
Grid reference	SS555332
Operations
Original company	London and South Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Platforms	2
History
16 May 1898	Station opened
5 October 1970	Station closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Barnstaple Town railway station was an intermediate station on the L&SWR line to Ilfracombe, England. The station replaced Barnstaple Quay – opened in 1854, and renamed Barnstaple Town in 1886 – which had been located on the Junction side of the Commercial Road crossing, a short distance up-line. The total cost of rebuilding the station in its present location was about £6000, of which £2000 was contributed by the L&B.

The station in 1969.

Opened on 16 May 1898 to serve as the connection to the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B), a narrow gauge line that ran through Exmoor from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon, a distance by rail of almost 20 miles. Both lines came under Southern Railway ownership in 1923. The L&B closed in 1935. The main line closed, along with the station, in October 1970.

The LSWR Signal Box in 2006
In Southern days, this box controlled the L&B through to Pilton.
A small L&B museum occupied the box in the 1980s

The remaining platform in 2006

When built in 1898, both lines were controlled by separate Signal Boxes, but rationalisation under Southern ownership saw the narrow gauge box downgraded to a ground-frame, with the former LSWR box taking over control of the narrow gauge line.

During the 1980s and early 1990s the old LSWR signal box was operated as a small museum for the L&B and the station building was in use as a restaurant. The signal box is now (2007) empty but the station building is now used as a school.

Combe Rail

In late 2015 a charity named Combe Rail was formed with the intention of establishing a heritage railway on the trackbed of the Ilfracombe-Barnstaple line as well as lobbying for a full reopening in the future.^[1]

References

1. Combe Rail website

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Barnstaple Junction		L&SWR Ilfracombe Branch (1874-1970)		Braunton
Terminus		Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (1898-1935)		Pilton (Goods Only)

External links

• Disused Stations site record

Coordinates: 51°04′48″N 4°03′50″W / 51.07997°N 4.06383°W