163, Newton Road

This is a pumping house built between 1847 and 1848 by IK Brunel for the South Devon Railway Company, originally intended to serve the South Devon Atmospheric Railway, which was projected to run between Exeter and Plymouth. It is constructed from local grey limestone rubble with some red sandstone and red brick dressings, and has a corrugated asbestos roof with gabled ends. The building is designed in an Italianate style and includes a prominent campanile chimney.

The layout consists of two parallel blocks, originally planned to house boilers and a beam engine respectively, oriented on a north-south axis. A chimney is situated at the south end of the shorter east block.

The east block is single-storey, with portions raised to create a floor above. The east-facing end elevation has a three-window, two-window arrangement. The chimney is a central feature of the right-hand block. The left-hand block has three high-set windows in its gable. The centre window has a pilastered, round-headed design with a keyblock; this arch is now blocked and flanked by square-headed windows with prominent architraves, with a modern opening below. The right-hand block features two round-headed windows with prominent architraves on either side of the chimney. The chimney itself tapers and has a deep ashlar plinth, tall round-headed recesses on each face, a string course near the top, corner pilasters, and a heavy cornice supported on moulded corbels below a low-pitched pyramidal roof. The west return of the western block has a chamfered string course and two large square-headed windows with prominent architraves, believed to be original. To the left of this are three first-floor and three ground-floor windows, alongside a doorway with brick dressings, likely added later.

The interior has been altered and is in present use. The roof of the western block is concealed. The eastern block retains timber tie beam trusses, with purlins held on cleats.

According to Charles Hadfield's 'Atmospheric Railways', this pumping house is among the few surviving from the three operational atmospheric railway lines in the British Isles. The campanile chimney is more complete here than at the Starcross pumping house, which is from the same line. The building was never used for its original purpose.