| Summary : A former station on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (HOB UID 34825), a narrow gauge line opened in 1898, projected and funded by the philanthropist Sir George Newnes MP. The station was one of several on the line, built in 1896/7 to the specifications of the railway's engineer Frank W Chanter. It appears on the 1898 Ordnance Survey map with a contemporary viaduct to the south (Grade II listed). The railway company was absorbed into Southern Railways in 1923 and the line was closed and dismantled in 1935. The building is constructed of local uncoursed rubble stone with a concrete tile roof and replica timber barge boards. Timber top-hung windows, the entrance porch (altered in the 1920s) and cast-iron rainwater goods survive. Apart from a signal box, which is not in its original position, little survives which suggest the building's former use. In the 1950s the building was converted to residential use and extensions added to the north and west. |
More information : The building is a former station on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (HOB UID 34825), a narrow gauge line opened in 1898, projected and funded by the philanthropist Sir George Newnes MP. The station was one of several on the line, built in 1896/7 to the specifications of the railway's engineer Frank W Chanter. It appears on the 1898 Ordnance Survey map with a contemporary viaduct to the south (Grade II listed). The railway company was absorbed into Southern Railways in 1923 and the line was closed and dismantled in 1935. The building is constructed of local uncoursed rubble stone with a concrete tile roof and replica timber barge boards. Timber top-hung windows, the entrance porch (altered in the 1920s) and cast-iron rainwater goods survive. Apart from a signal box, which is not in its original position, little survives which suggest the building¿s former use. In the 1950s the building was converted to residential use and extensions added to the north and west. We have not been supplied with interior photographs but the applicant speculates that it is 'largely intact'.
The growth and importance of England's railway infrastructure in the 19th century resulted in the construction of large numbers of stations and other railway buildings. Pre-1840 structures are exceptionally important, as are the great termini where the station forms part of a designed group, often including a hotel and train shed. Post- circa 1860 stations particularly require rigorous scrutiny; architectural, historic and engineering interest is important when assessing their significance.
Chelfham Station is a late 19th century building with modest architectural qualities in relation to comparative listed stations in England. Despite the presence of the viaduct, the building¿s context has been eroded with the closure of the line and building¿s fabric altered and extended. Although the applicant suggest that the interior is intact, it is unlikely that the original plan will have survived the change to residential use. The station was built as part of a local branch line but it is not considered to be a good representative example of the railway company's station design.
Chelfham Station Bungalow has strong local value in terms of local and regional railway and engineering heritage. Part of the original line has been reinstated and the station refurbished at Woody Bay, to the north. However, the stations' modest architecture character combined with alterations, extensions, loss of immediate context and late date means that Chelfham Station does not meet the special architectural and historic significance. (1)
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