Signal Box West Of Crediton Station Main Range

CREDITON

SX8399 STATION ROAD 672-1/4/156 Signal box west of Crediton Station 24/08/89 Main Range

GV II

Railway signal box. Probably circa 1862 for the LSWR.Upper storey timber-frame, clad with weatherboarding, ground floor red brick laid in English bond; low-pitched hipped slate roof with lead rolls to hips and short ridge; red brick lateral stack. Exterior: 2 storeys. Flight of timber steps on the east side lead up to a projecting timber-framed porch on posts with 4-pane fixed windows on the east and south sides, the frame clad with vertical boarding. The box has a tier of 4 over 4-pane windows below the eaves. Stack has shaft with moulded cornice; rear (north) right single-storey outhut. Interior: Not inspected. Historical Note: The complicated early history of the line, which began in 1838, led to its being known as 'The Vicar of Bray Railway', but eventually the Crediton and Exeter Railway (Act of 1845) was leased to the Bristol and Exeter Railway who converted to broad guage and opened on 12 May 1851, until the LSWR took over in 1862 (St John Thomas, pp.92-96). An attractive C19 signal box, described as "typical of early designs by the L.S.W.R."(Pevsner).One of a good group of railway buildings of mixed dates at Crediton station. (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: SX8389499502