Barnstaple Town railway station

Infobox UK disused station| name = Barnstaple Town| locale = Exmoor| borough = North Devon

| caption = An early view of "Barnstaple Town station"| line = Lynton & Barnstaple| manager = LSWR| owner = Southern| platforms = 1 through (LSWR)
1 Bay {L&B}| gridref = SS55533321| years = 11 May 1904| events = Opened| years1 = 5 October 1970| events1 = Closed|

Barnstaple Town was an intermediate station on the L&SWR line to Ilfracombe. The station replaced Barnstaple Quay, which 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 (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.

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 used for local authority educational purposes.

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External links

* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/batnstaple_town/index.shtml "Disused Stations" site record]