The station at Ivybridge was not complete when the railway was opened, but was brought into use six weeks later on 15 June 1848. The building was situated on the north side of the track, immediately to the west of Ivybridge Viaduct.

The line originally had just a single track but was doubled to the west on 11 June 1893 and from the far side of the viaduct to the east on 13 August 1893. A new stone viaduct to replace Isambard Kingdom Brunel's timber structure was brought into use in 1894 and allow the joining up of the double-track sections. This was on a new alignment which forced the construction of a new westbound (down) platform further back from the old line. The up platform was widened and this left the building set back at an odd angle to the track.

The goods shed at the station was replaced on 1 October 1911 by a new facility further west, which still survives in commercial use. In 1968 this was altered for shipping china clay brought from workings on Dartmoor by lorry. A signal box was situated on the south side of the line between the station and the goods yard from 1895 until 1973. The goods station closed on 2 November 1965 although passenger traffic had ceased from 2 March 1959. A replacement Ivybridge railway station was opened a mile away on the far side of the viaduct on 15 July 1994. The goods shed is still standing.

Although a little way from the old station, the viaduct can still be seen from the cache. This one should be a nice & easy cache & dash, but is not far from Ivybridge town centre & Victoria Park so parking is in abundance nearby. Cache is a micro magnetic container. Congrats to FINDER400 for FTF