Crediton Railway Station Main Range

The main range of Crediton railway station dates from 1851, when it opened as part of the Exeter and Crediton Railway. It may have been designed by I.K. Brunel. The building is constructed of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern, with dressings of painted Bathstone, and has a slate roof with gable ends. A shouldered stack has a tall brick shaft, and cast iron gutters are present.

The north (entrance) front is asymmetrical, with a layout of one bay, followed by two bays, and then two bays again. The outer bays have lower rooflines. The central section projects forward, featuring a canopy supported by timber cantilevered brackets, which shelters a canted bay window with a five-light design, a high transom, and chamfered mullions. A four-centred arched doorway, with a 20th-century door, is situated to the right of the bay window. The remaining windows on this front have deep chamfered frames and rusticated surrounds.

The south side has a layout of two bays, followed by two bays, and then one bay, and also features a canopy, supported by timber cantilevered brackets with four cast iron brackets decorated with roundels. The canopy extends across the width of the platform. The central bays project forward, containing a four-light mullion and transom window matching that on the north side, and a similar, but now blocked, four-centred arch doorway. A window to the right (east) is four-centred with a chamfered surround, while two windows to the left of the blocked doorway replicate those on the north side.

The interior, though not fully inspected, contains a surviving 19th-century cornice in the ticket office. A plain corner chimneypiece is also believed to be original, located in the south-east room. Pevsner notes a resemblance to other Great Western Railway wayside stations. The station has a surprising level of intact features and forms part of a good group of associated railway buildings. The railway line has a complex history, which led to early descriptions referring to it as the 'Vicar of Bray Railway'.