Whimple Railway Station - History

History

The station was opened by the LSWR on 19 July 1860, along with its Exeter Extension from Yeovil Junction to Exeter Queen Street. The station was situated to the east of the village and designed by the architect Sir William Tite. The main building was situated on the eastbound platform and was two-storeys high to provide the station master with accommodation. The goods shed was nearby at the east end of the station, and a signal box was built opposite on the other platform in 1875. In 1892 Henry Whiteway established a cider factory on the north side of the station. This generated much of the goods traffic at the station; in the 1930s it was estimated that the factory was responsible for 30,000 tons of traffic each year.

On 11 June 1967 all passenger trains were diverted to the southern platform. The track through the northern platform was retained to serve Whiteway’s factory, but the signal box was closed and the train crew operated the points. Public goods traffic was withdrawn on 4 December 1967 but Whiteways continued to handle rail traffic. The station became unstaffed on 5 October 1970.

The Whiteways factory closed in 1989 and this allowed a redevelopment of the site. The goods shed was demolished in 1991 and houses were then built instead. The following year the track was slewed across so that the northern platform, the one nearer the village, could be brought back into use. The other platform and the footbridge were then demolished.