Chapelton railway station serves the hamlet of Chapelton, part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Tawstock Tawstock is a village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon in the English county of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Barnstaple, Bishop's Tawton, Atherington, Yarnscombe, Horwood, ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

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. Devo ...

. It 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 ...

to , from at milepost 207 from .

History

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 ga ...

opened through Chapelton on 1 August 1854 but there was only a goods siding at that time. A wooden

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

was erected on the east side of the single track so passengers could use the trains from 8 June 1857. Trains called every day for a while but the from the following April they were reduced to just two days most weeks. By October they were calling on Fridays only until April 1860 when they stopped all together. A new stone platform was built and services resumed on 1 March 1875. The line was doubled on 19 October 1890 so a second platform was built for the new northbound line. A signal box was built on the new platform behind which was the station's goods yard. Much of the freight traffic was timber from a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

that was opened in 1930. Much of the timber was sold to railway companies (who used it to build freight wagons) and coal mines (for

pit prop A pit prop or mine prop (British and American usage, respectively) is a length of lumber used to prop up the roofs of tunnels in coal mines. Canada traditionally supplied pit props to the British market. As coal mining declined in importance an ...

s). The goods yard was closed on 4 January 1965 and the signal box, which had mainly been opened only when goods trains were shunting, was closed on 26 January 1966. On 21 May 1971 the line was reduced to just a single track again.

Description

The station is situated a little to the south of the hamlet of Chapelton alongside the A377 road. A footpath crosses the railway that leads to the minor road on the east side of the valley. The single platform, which is long enough for a 7 coach train, is on the west side of the track. There is a car park, bike rack, and waiting shelter. The building on the disused platform opposite was built for the station master but is now in private use.

Services

All services at Chapelton are operated by Great Western Railway. Only a limited number of trains (two each way on Saturdays but more on other days) between and call at Chapelton 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 Community rail in Britain is the support of railway lines and stations by local organisations, usually through community rail partnerships (CRPs) comprising railway operators, local councils, and other community organisations, and rail user group ...

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 serv ...

. The line is promoted as the

References

{{reflist Railway stations in Devon Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1860 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1875 Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Railway request stops in Great Britain Low usage railway stations in the United Kingdom 1857 establishments in England DfT Category F2 stations