Station Name: WRANGATON

 

[Source: Nick Catford]


Date opened: 16.6.1848 (probable)
Location: At the end of a short access road running south from B3213
Company on opening: South Devon Railway
Date closed to passengers: 2.3.1959
Date closed completely: 9.9.1963
Company on closing: British Railways (Western Region)
Present state: Nothing remains at track level but at street level station site is occupied by Coombe Nursery Landscapers and presumably the street level building still exists.
County: Devon
OS Grid Ref: SX683577
Date of visit: August 1969

Notes: Wrangaton railway station was on the South Devon Railway between Exeter and Plymouth. It also served as the railhead for Kingsbridge until a branch was opened to that town from Brent railway station on 19 December 1893.

The station was opened with the line on 5 May 1848, the only intermediate station between Totnes and the temporary terminus at Laira, in Plymouth but stations were opened at Brent and Ivybridge within two months. The station was located in a deep cutting with a roadside booking office above. From May 1849 to 1st July 1895 the station was known as Kingsbridge Road, the old name being resumed when the Kingsbridge branch opened.

The station lost its passenger service on 2nd March 1959 but continued to handle goods until 9th September 1963. A private siding remained open after that date.

It has been suggested that Wrangaton was the inspiration for one of the stations mentioned in the Hound of The Baskervilles - the wayside station where Dr. Watson, Sir Henry and Mortimor arrived near the Moor and then approached the Moor from the South. Fowlscombe Manor, now a ruin, is a little to the south of Wrangaton and it is the most likely candidate for ‘Baskerville Hall’

 


Wrangaton Station in June 1921
Copyright photo from John Alsop collection




The roadside entrance building at Wrangaton Station in August 1969
Photo by Nick Catford


The roadside entrance building at Wrangaton Station in August 1969. The deep cutting can be seen to the right.
Photo by Nick Catford



 

 

 

[Source: Nick Catford]


Home Page
Last updated: Friday, 26-May-2017 10:05:07 CEST
© 1998-2006 Disused Stations