Lynton and Lynmouth railway station
Encyclopedia
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,...
, 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 and Lynmouth 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...
. The station served the twin towns of 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...
(on the top of the cliffs) 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....
(on the shoreline below). It opened with the line on 7 March 1898, and closed with it after service on 29 September 1935. From 1923 until closure, the line was operated by the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
.
Originally providing accommodation for the stationmaster and his family, the station building was substantially updated under Southern ownership, including removal of the chimney stacks. A separate house was built for the stationmaster on the rising ground to the West of the main line, and rail access to the engine shed was reversed at around the same time. The water supply was very poor in this location often causing the toilets and water tower for the locomotives to be closed. Due to this trains often stopped at Parracombe Halt
Parracombe railway station
Parracombe was a halt on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, a narrow gauge line that ran through Exmoor from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon...
to fill the water tanks of the engine.
Now within the 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 ...
national park, the station building has become a private residence, the former goods shed
Goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built alongside a track with possibly just a canopy over the door...
has been divided into two cottages, and a number of private residences have been built close to the trackbed on the approaches to the former station.
The rebuilt L&BR will terminate at new station closer to Lynton.
