Crediton Railway Station Main Range

CREDITON

SX89NW STATION ROAD 672-1/2/153 Crediton Railway Station Main Range 24/08/89

GV II

Main range to Crediton railway station, opened 1851. Possibly designed by I.K.Brunel (Pevsner) for the Exeter and Crediton Railway. Flemish bond red brick with painted Bathstone dressings; slate roof with gable ends; shouldered stack with tall brick shaft; cast iron gutters. Exterior: Single story. Asymmetrical 1:2:2 bay north (entrance) front, the outer bays with lower roofs. Centre broken forward with a canopy on timber cantilevered brackets over a canted bay with a 5-light window with a high transom and chamfered mullions. Chamfered 4-centred arched doorway to the right with a C20 door. The other windows (1 to left, 2 to right) have deep chamfered frames and rusticated surrounds. South side of 2:2:1 bays and a canopy on timber cantilevered brackets with 4 cast iron brackets decorated with roundels. Canopy extends the width of the platform. The centre bays break forward with a 4-light mullion and transom window matching that on the north and a similar (blocked) 4-centred arch doorway. Window to right (east) also 4-centred with chamfered surround; two windows to left of door match those on north side. Interior: Not fully inspected but a C19 cornice survives in the ticket office; probably original plain corner chimneypiece to south-east room. Pevsner notes a similarity to GWR wayside stations. Historical Note: The complicated early history of the line, which began in 1839, led to it being known as the 'Vicar of Bray Railway'. Eventually the Exeter and Crediton Railway (Act obtained 1845) was leased to the Bristol and Exeter Railway who reconverted to broad guage and opened May 12 1851 until the LSWR took over the lease in 1862 (St John Thomas). Surprisingly intact and part of a good group of associated railway buildings. (A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: St John Thomas, David,: The West Country: PP.92-96; The Buildings of England: Pevsner, N., & Cherry, B.,: Devon: London: P.300).

Listing NGR: SX8401799485