It was opened on 20 June 1839[1] as a temporary London terminus of the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) from Romford prior to the construction of Shoreditch station which became the permanent terminus.

An additional train serving Romford Market ran on Wednesdays.

[3] After Shoreditch opened, Devonshire Street continued in use as a through passenger station for a year before it was closed in 1840.

The street after which the station was named was later incorporated into the northern part of Bancroft Road, running east–west next to the tracks.

The station was situated on an embankment adjacent to the Devonshire Street skew bridge.