Bittaford Platform Railway Station
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

There are eleven disused railway stations between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth Millbay,
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, England. At eight of these there are visible remains. Of the eleven stations, South Brent and Plympton are subject of campaigns for reopening while Ivybridge station was replaced by another station on a different site.


Background

The South Devon Railway was opened in stages between 30 May 1846 and 2 April 1849. It was originally designed to operate on the atmospheric principle but this was not successful and was never completed beyond
Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...
. It was
amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...
into the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
on 1 February 1876 and now forms part of the
Exeter to Plymouth Line Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
.


Stations


Exminster

''Located at '' A station was built at
Exminster Exminster is a village situated on the southern edge of the City of Exeter on the western side of the Exeter ship canal and River Exe in the county of Devon, England. It is around south of the centre of Exeter, and has a population of 3,084 (ce ...
by
George Hennet George Hennet (1799–1857) was an English railway engineer and contractor. He undertook many contracts for Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad gauge railways in the South West of England and funded the provision of extra facilities on the South D ...
. It was opened in August 1852 and operated by him on behalf of the South Devon Railway until January 1857 when the railway company took over. An
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
building on the west side of the single track housed a booking office and waiting room on the ground floor, with accommodation above for the station master. Hennet also operated a goods siding and coal shed at the station. It was situated where a bridge carried a road down to a ferry across the
River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 mile ...
to Topsham. It had been proposed that a branch line should be built from Exminster across the river to
Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...
, but in the event the
London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
built one instead from
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
. The line through Exminster was doubled in November 1859 and so a second platform for southbound (down) trains was built; passengers used the road bridge to cross to it. The siding was extended to provide a refuge for up trains in 1894, and a down refuge siding was constructed north of the bridge in 1906; these allowed slow goods trains to be overtaken. In 1924 the facilities were greatly enlarged. A new passenger loop was laid behind the southbound platform, so now down stopping passenger trains could be overtaken while in the station. This meant that the road bridge had to be extended across the loop line with a second span. A new
signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
was provided at this time. In 1931 an up platform loop was squeezed into the space between the station building and the platform and the bridge extended again. A new booking office was provided on the approach to the bridge. In 1940 the down refuge siding was converted into a loop so that goods trains could run straight in without reversing, and three loop sidings were provided behind the platform. These were originally intended to help the flow of goods traffic during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but later became a useful place to stable empty passenger trains on busy summer Saturdays. The station closed for passenger traffic on 30 March 1964 and for goods on 4 December 1967, although only coal traffic had been handled for the previous 27 months. The refuge sidings had already been removed by then, and the loop sidings behind the down platform converted to dead-ends. They continued to see occasional use until 1985. The signal box was closed on 14 November 1986 but remained in situ until September 2006 but has now bee
removed for preservation
to
Broadway, Worcestershire Broadway is a large village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, England, with a population of 2,540 at the 2011 census. It is in the far southeast of Worcestershire, close to the Gloucestershire border, midway between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh ...
. The 1852 station building still survives. In November 2017, it was proposed that Exminster could reopen along with as part of a ten-year strategy by the local council. In an update in April 2020, officers of
Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon. Members of the council (councillors) are elected every four years to ...
said that a decision had been made to prioritise
Marsh Barton Marsh Barton is the largest trading estate in Exeter, covering over . It supports over 500 diverse businesses including one of Europe's largest motoring centres, showrooms, city plumbing, Exeter College's automotive site, builders merchants, ...
over a possible reopening of this station. Lack of track capacity meant that it was 'almost impossible' to open both.


Brent

''Located at '' Brent railway station served the village of
South Brent South Brent is a large village on the southern edge of Dartmoor, England, in the valley of the River Avon. The parish includes the small hamlets of Aish, Harbourneford, Lutton, Brent Mill, and many scattered farmhouses. It is five miles (8&n ...
on the southern edge of
Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...
. It was not ready when the railway was opened, but was brought into use six weeks later on 15 June 1848. On 19 December 1893 the station became a junction, with the opening of the
Kingsbridge Branch Line Kingsbridge branch line was a single track branch line railway in Devon, England. The railway, which became known as the Primrose Line, opened in 1893 and, despite local opposition, closed in 1963. It left the Exeter to Plymouth line at Brent ...
. The branch line closed on 16 September 1963 and there was little reason for the station after that. Goods traffic was withdrawn on 6 April 1964 and to passengers on 5 October 1964. The
signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
was retained until 17 December 1973 when control of the line was transferred to the power signal box at . The former goods shed on the westbound (Plymouth) side is still intact. The signalbox was finally demolished in November 2014


Wrangaton

''Located at '' The station was opened with the line on 5 May 1848; at the time, the only intermediate station between
Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...
and the temporary terminus at
Laira Laira – previously recorded as Lare(1591), Lary poynte (1638), the Leerie (1643), and the Lairy (1802) – was originally the name given to that part of the estuary of the River Plym from the Cattewater up to Marsh Mills in Plymouth, Devon ...
. From 1849 to 1893 the station was known as Kingsbridge Road, becoming " Wrangaton" once more when the branch line to
Kingsbridge Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the abo ...
opened. The station was closed to passengers on 2 March 1959 but goods traffic continued to be handled until 9 September 1963. Part of the platform is still visible just west of Wrangaton Tunnel, as are the former Admiralty sidings on the north side of the line. The signalbox from Wrangaton is now preserved as an exhibit at Kidderminster Railway Museum, adjacent to the
Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
in Worcestershire.


Bittaford Platform

''Located at '' An unstaffed station was opened by the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
at Bittaford on 18 November 1907 and closed on 2 March 1959. It was situated immediately east of Bittaford Viaduct. There were no goods facilities but Redlake Siding was opened mile to the west on 10 September 1911. This siding served a large
china clay Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
drier which processed clay brought by pipeline from Redlake on
Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...
; the eight mile long, gauge
Redlake Tramway The Redlake Tramway was a railway built to carry supplies and workers between Bittaford and the clay workings at Redlake, near the centre of the southern part of Dartmoor, Devon, England. It was built in 1911 to a narrow gauge A narrow-gau ...
was used to carry materials between Redlake Siding and the clay pits. There are no visible remains of the platform, but original iron tube fencing remains to be seen behind the site of the former London bound platform. The clay drier at Redlake Siding is still intact, now modified for use by an engineering company, despite the siding closing on 7 July 1932.


Ivybridge

''Located at '' The station at
Ivybridge Ivybridge is a town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about east of Andy Hughes’ new house in Ivybridge now he’s forgotten Ugborough. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England an ...
was not complete when the railway was opened, but was brought into use six weeks later on 15 June 1848. The building was situated on the north side of the track, immediately to the west of Ivybridge Viaduct. The line originally had just a single track but was doubled to the west on 11 June 1893 and from the far side of the viaduct to the east on 13 August 1893. A new stone viaduct to replace
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
's timber structure was brought into use in 1894 and allow the joining up of the double-track sections. This was on a new alignment which forced the construction of a new westbound (down) platform further back from the old line. The up platform was widened and this left the building set back at an odd angle to the track. The goods shed at the station was replaced on 1 October 1911 by a new facility further west, which still survives in commercial use. In 1968 this was altered for shipping
china clay Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
brought from workings on
Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...
by lorry. A signal box was situated on the south side of the line between the station and the goods yard from 1895 until 1973. The goods station closed on 2 November 1965 although passenger traffic had ceased from 2 March 1959. A replacement
Ivybridge railway station Ivybridge railway station is situated on the Exeter to Plymouth line and serves the town of Ivybridge in Devon, England. It is measured from the zero point at via Box. History First station Ivybridge's first station was located at . It w ...
was opened a mile away on the far side of the viaduct on 15 July 1994. The goods shed is still standing.


Cornwood

''Located at '' A station was built at
Cornwood Cornwood is a village and civil parish in the South Hams in Devon, England. The parish has a population of 988. The village is part of the electoral ward called ''Cornwood'' and Sparkwell. The ward population at the 2011 census was 2,321. Blach ...
by
George Hennet George Hennet (1799–1857) was an English railway engineer and contractor. He undertook many contracts for Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad gauge railways in the South West of England and funded the provision of extra facilities on the South D ...
. It was opened in 1852 and operated by him on behalf of the South Devon Railway until January 1857 when the railway company took over. Until 1864 it was known as "Cornwood Road". An
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
building on the north side of the single track housed a booking office and waiting room on the ground floor, with accommodation above for the station master. It was situated in a cutting in the mile between Blatchford and Slade viaducts. The line was doubled from Hemerdon to Cornwood on 16 May 1893 and a
signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
was opened at the east end of the station. The double line was extended to Blatchford viaduct on 19 November 1893. This doubling required the construction of a new platform for westbound (down) trains. The station closed for passenger trains on 2 March 1959. A loop line was provided to the east of the platform for up trains which was closed on 26 February 1962; the signal box was kept in use until 26 February 1963. The London bound platform and station building can still be seen from passing trains.


Plympton

''Located at '' Railway facilities in
Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Plym ...
had originally been provided by the horse-drawn
Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway (P&DR) was a gauge railway built to improve the economy of moorland areas around Princetown in Devon, England. Independent carriers operated horse-drawn wagons and paid the company a toll. It opened in 1823, and ...
, but their branch to Plympton was closed and sold to the South Devon Railway to allow the construction of their new line. The new station was not ready to be opened with the railway, but was brought into use six weeks later on 15 June 1848. From 1 June 1904 it was the eastern terminus for enhanced
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
area suburban services, which saw steam railmotors used to fight competition from electric
trams A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
. The station closed to passengers on 2 March 1959 but goods traffic continued to be handled until 1 June 1964. A Plymouth Joint plan that was opened for consultation in 2018 included a suggested 'Plymouth Metro' with a station at Plympton. However, as of May 2020, nothing had been enacted.


Laira

A temporary terminus was opened at
Laira Laira – previously recorded as Lare(1591), Lary poynte (1638), the Leerie (1643), and the Lairy (1802) – was originally the name given to that part of the estuary of the River Plym from the Cattewater up to Marsh Mills in Plymouth, Devon ...
on the outskirts of
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
on 5 May 1848 while work continued on Mutley Tunnel and the final stretch of the line to
Millbay Millbay, also known as Millbay Docks, is an area of dockland in Plymouth, Devon, England. It lies south of Union Street, between West Hoe in the east and Stonehouse in the west. The area is currently subject to a public-private regeneration c ...
. Two wooden
train shed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...
s were provided and a horse-drawn bus conveyed passengers to and from the town. It was closed when the line to Millbay was opened on 3 April 1849. A new facility, known as "Laira Halt" (located at ) was opened by the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
on 1 June 1904 close to the Laira engine shed. This, along with several other small stations, formed a scheme to introduce a suburban train service in competition with electric trams. Laira Halt was not particularly successful and was closed from 7 July 1930, although the steps leading to the platform can still be seen beside the tracks.


Lipson Vale Halt

''Located at '' Another of the small stations opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1904 was Lipson Vale Halt. It was situated on the east side of Mutley Tunnel between Laira Halt and the older station at Mutley. The GWR suburban service was withdrawn on 7 July 1930, although local Southern Railway trains continued to call until 4 May 1942 when the station was closed and dismantled as its wooden platforms were thought to be a fire risk during
The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
.


Mutley

''Located at '' The second permanent station in
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
was opened on 1 August 1871 to the west of the
tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
beneath
Mutley Plain Mutley Plain is a street in Plymouth, Devon, England. Although Mutley Plain is the main street of the dense suburb called Mutley, the term is often applied to the whole area. The road is now a busy dual-carriageway, the B3250, with eight sets of ...
. It was financed by local people in return for a promise of railway shares once it was attracting a profitable level of business. It became a joint station used also by the
London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
trains when they arrived in the area by running over the railway from Tavistock, which they did from 18 May 1876. A new joint
North Road railway station North Road is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated north-west of Darlington, serves the market town of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed b ...
was built in 1877, just a few yards to the west of Mutley and this became the main station for the city. The London and South Western trains entered Plymouth on a
new line New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
from the west after 2 June 1890 and for a while terminated at North Road, but they returned to Mutley on 1 July 1891 when their new terminus at Plymouth Friary was opened, but now they ran in the opposite direction to before. Trains from Friary to Exeter St Davids stopped on the southern platform, those from Millbay to Exeter St Davids stopping on the north. Mutley was closed from 2 March 1939 to allow for track alterations in association with the rebuilding of North Road station.


Plymouth Millbay

''Located at '' The trains of the South Devon Railway finally reached the town of
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
on 2 April 1849. Docks were opened adjacent to the station and a new headquarters office was built next door. The station was expanded ready for the opening of the
Cornwall Railway The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventu ...
on 4 May 1859 and the
South Devon and Tavistock Railway The South Devon and Tavistock Railway linked Plymouth with Tavistock in Devon; it opened in 1859. It was extended by the Launceston and South Devon Railway to Launceston, in Cornwall in 1865. It was a broad gauge line but from 1876 also carried t ...
on 22 June 1859. It became known as "Plymouth Millbay" after other stations were opened in the town in 1876–7 at Mutley and North Road. The station was closed to passengers on 23 April 1941 after bombs destroyed the nearby goods depot; the passenger station being used thereafter only for goods traffic and access to the carriage sheds. All traffic ceased from 14 December 1969 except for goods trains running through to the docks which continued until 30 June 1971. The site is now occupied by the
Plymouth Pavilions Plymouth Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has an ice rink and indoor arena. The arena is used as an entertainment venue and also for corporate hire. The Pavilions is built on the site of the form ...
leisure complex. Two granite gate posts outside the Millbay Road entrance are all that is left of the station, although a goods shed on what used to be Washington Place is still extant nearby


See also

*
Disused railway stations (Bristol to Exeter Line) There are 22 disused railway stations in the between and , 12 of which have structures that can still be seen from passing trains. Most were closed in the 1960s but four of them, especially around , were replaced by stations on new sites. 13 s ...
*
Disused railway stations (Riviera Line) The railway branch line from to in Devon, England, is unusual as a large majority of the stations are still open for traffic. Of the eleven stations, seven are still open so there are only four disused railway stations on this line, a much low ...
*
Disused railway stations (Cornish Main Line) There are seventeen disused railway stations on the Cornish Main Line between Plymouth in Devon and Penzance in Cornwall, England. The remains of nine of these can be seen from passing trains. While a number of these were closed following the s ...
*
South Devon Railway engine houses South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...


References

* * * * * * * * * {{cite book , last = Smith , first = Martin , title = An Illustrated History of Plymouth's Railways , publisher = Irwell Press , date = 1995 , isbn=978-1-871608-41-0 Exeter to Plymouth Exeter to Plymouth *