Lapford railway station is a rural station on the

Tarka Line The Tarka Line, also known as the North Devon Line, is a local railway line in Devon, England, linking the city of Exeter with the town of Barnstaple via a number of local villages, operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). The line opened in 18 ...

, serving the village of Lapford in

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 ...

. It is from at milepost 189.75 from .

History

The railway between and was opened by the

North Devon Railway The North Devon Railway was a railway company which operated a line from Cowley Bridge Junction, near Exeter, to Bideford in Devon, England, later becoming part of the London and South Western Railway's system. Originally planned as a broad gau ...

on 1 August 1854 but there was no station at Lapford until 20 September 1855 when a platform was opened on the north side of the single track to the west of the road bridge. This was provided with a stone building containing the offices and a house for the station master, A passing loop was opened on 1 October 1873 and a wooden signal box with 13 levers built opposite the west end of the platform by the points to the loop. There was no room here for a platform to serve the new second track so it had to be built on the east side of the road bridge. This platform was unusually built in between the two lines but the back of the platform was fenced off so passengers could only board or leave westbound trains (those towards Barnstaple). The new platform was provided with a waiting shelter which incorporated a small booking office where tickets were sold for about eight minutes before trains were due to call. A

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is not ...

for sheep and pigs used to be situated in the northern arch of the road bridge (some meat hooks can be seen in the wall}. In 1927 a factory was built next to the goods yard for Ambrosia and production of milk products such as tinned cream started in April 1928. In 1928 Lapford had received but by 1932 this had increased to . The factory closed in 1970. The signal box closed on 21 June 1870. Public goods traffic had ceased from 4 December 1967 however the yard remained open to receive

fertiliser A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

traffic until 1991. The loop line remained available for use until December 2010.

Description

The station is situated south west of Lapford, with the single platform the west of the

A377 road List of A roads in zone 3 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island ...

bridge. The former station house is now in private use but a small waiting shelter is situated in the platform.

Services

All services at Lapford are operated by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...

. Only a limited number of trains (four each way on Saturdays and Sundays but more during the week) between and call at Lapford and this is only on request to the conductor or by signalling the driver as it approaches.

Community railway

The railway between Exeter and Barnstaple is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the

Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is the largest Community Rail Partnership in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1991 to promote the use of, and improvements to, rural railways in Devon and Cornwall, and also to promote the places ser ...

. The line is promoted as the

References

{{Devon railway stations Railway stations in Devon Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855 Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Railway request stops in Great Britain DfT Category F2 stations