Barnstaple Town was an intermediate station on the L&SWR

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

 line to Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe Branch Line

The Ilfracombe Branch of the London & South Western Railway , ran between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe in North Devon. The branch opened as a single-track line in 1874, but was sufficiently popular that it needed to be upgraded to double-track in 1889....

. The station replaced Barnstaple Quay

Barnstaple Quay railway station

Barnstaple Quay was an intermediate station on the L&SWR line to Ilfracombe in Devon, England. The station opened in 1854, and located on the north bank of the River Taw close to the centre of Barnstaple, was renamed Barnstaple Town in 1886...

 – 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.

Opened on 16 May 1898 to serve as the connection to the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track narrow gauge railway slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the 1896 Light Railways Act came into force,...

 (L&B), a narrow gauge line that ran through Exmoor

Exmoor

Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...

 from Barnstaple

Barnstaple

Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...

 to Lynton

Lynton

Lynton is a small town in Devon, England. It lies on the northern edge of Exmoor and is located at the top of a gorge above Lynmouth, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway...

 and Lynmouth

Lynmouth

Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway....

 in North Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, 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.

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.

External links

• Disused Stations site record