Barnstaple Town railway station

Barnstaple Town railway station was an intermediate station on the L&SWR line to Ilfracombe, England.

Barnstaple Town
The station in 1964
Location
PlaceBarnstaple
AreaNorth Devon
Grid referenceSS555332
Operations
Original companyLondon and South Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and South Western Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Platforms2
History
16 May 1898 (1898-05-16)Station opened
5 October 1970 (1970-10-05)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

History

The first station named Barnstaple Town was originally opened as Barnstaple Quay in 1874, and became Barnstaple Town in 1886. It was located in Commercial Road and later formed part of the bus station.[1] The total cost of rebuilding the station in its later location was about £6000 (equivalent to £673,300 in 2019),[2] of which £2000 was contributed by the L&B.

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 were controlled by separate signal boxes.

Both lines came under Southern Railway ownership in 1923.[3] The L&B signal box was downgraded to a ground-frame and the LSWR signal box took over control of the narrow gauge line.

The L&B closed in 1935. The main line closed, along with the station, in October 1970.

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.[4]

  • The station in 1969.
  • 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
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gollark: Although I do have 10 hours of maths lessons per week⸘/‽‽

References
  1. Clark, R.H. Southern Region Record.
  2. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  3. Catchpole, L.T. (2005). The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 1895–1935 (Eighth ed.). The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-637-X.
  4. "(home)". Combe Rail.
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Barnstaple Junction   L&SWR Ilfracombe Branch
(1874-1970)		   Wrafton
Terminus   Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
(1898-1935)		   Pilton
(Goods Only)


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