Chelfham railway station was a station on the

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B) opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track, narrow gauge railway and was slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devo ...

, a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struc ...

line that ran through

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbat ...

from

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but ...

Lynton Lynton is a town on the Exmoor coast in the North Devon district in the county of Devon, England, approximately north-east of Barnstaple and west of Minehead, and close to the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers. Governance Ly ...

and

Lynmouth Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the northern edge of Exmoor. The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, which was the only place to expand to once Lynmouth became as b ...

in North

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. Devon is ...

, England. The station stood at the head of the spectacular

Chelfham Viaduct Chelfham Viaduct is a railway viaduct built in 1896–97 to carry the single track, narrow-gauge Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B) across the Stoke Rivers valley. Designed by L&B engineer, FW Chanter, and containing over a quarter of a milli ...

, and served the village of Chelfham below.

History

It opened with the line on 11 May 1898, and closed with it after service on 29 September 1935. From 1923 until closure, the line was operated by the Southern Railway.L T Catchpole: ''The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 1895–1935'' published by The Oakwood Press. Eighth edition 2005. . The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust bought Chelfham station in 2000 and the station site is currently undergoing restoration while the group operates the railway at Woody Bay as a tourist attraction. The weatherboard extension, originally built by the Southern Railway to house scales for weighing parcels, was damaged beyond repair by strong winds in 2006.

References

Disused railway stations in Devon Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1898 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1935 Former Lynton and Barnstaple Railway stations {{SouthWestEngland-railstation-stub