Redcar

Origins

Redcar occupies a low-lying site by the sea; the second element of its name is from Old Norse kjarr, meaning 'marsh', and the first may be either Old English (Anglo-Saxon) rēad meaning 'red' or OE hrēod 'reed'.^[4][5] The town originated as a fishing hamlet in the 14th century, trading with the larger adjacent hamlet of Coatham.^[5] Until the mid-19th century it was within the parish of Marske-by-the-Sea – mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Zetland lifeboat

Numerous ships have foundered off the Redcar coastline and many of their wrecks still exist.^[6] The Zetland is the world's oldest surviving lifeboat. It was built by Henry Greathead of South Shields and is housed in a volunteer-led sea-front museum.^[7] The lifeboat was first stationed at Redcar in 1802.^[8][9]

Victorian Era

As seaside holidays became fashionable in the early 19th century, Redcar's facilities expanded. By 1841, Redcar had 794 inhabitants.^[10] In 1846, work was completed on the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway and the presently named Redcar Central station, created to attract tourism and trade.^[11][12]

Redcar's population expansion corresponded with Middlesbrough's, with the discovery in 1850 of iron ore in the Eston area of Cleveland Hills.^[13] Redcar prospered as a seaside town drawing tourists attracted by eight miles of sands stretching from South Gare to Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

Plans for a pier were drawn up in 1866, but lay dormant until prompted by the announcement of plans to build a pier at Coatham in 1871.^[13][14] Coatham Pier was wrecked before it was completed when two sailing ships were driven through it in a storm. It had to be shortened because of the cost of repairs and was re-opened with an entrance with two kiosks and a roller-skating rink on the Redcar side, and a bandstand halfway along its length.

Redcar Racecourse was created in 1875. Redcar Pier, another pier as well as Coatham Pier, was built in the late 1870s. In October 1880 the brig Luna caused £1,000 worth of damage to this pier. In New Year's Eve 1885 SS Cochrane demolished the landing stage.^[13] and in 1897 the schooner Amarant went through the pier. A year later, its head and bandstand burned down.^[13]

In October 1898 the Coatham Pier was almost wrecked when the barque Birger struck it and the pier was thereafter allowed to disintegrate. An anchor from the Birger can be seen on the sea front pavement close to the Zetland Lifeboat Museum.

In 1907 a pavilion ballroom was built on Redcar Pier behind the entrance kiosks and in 1928 it was extended.^[14] A glass house for concerts was added to the remains of Coatham Pier's entrance. The presently named Redcar East railway station was built in 1929.

In 1929 Coatham Pier's glasshouse was replaced by the New Pavilion theatre. After the war, comedian and entertainer Larry Grayson coined his catchphrase "Shut that Door!" while performing there, since the stage door was open to the cold North Sea breeze.^[15]

Second World War

Redcar Pier was deliberately breached (sectioned) in 1940 to prevent its use by enemy invasion forces.^[14] As a result of sectioning, damage by a mine explosion and deterioration it was never reconnected and instead allowed to become even more dilapidated.^[16]

Post war

Regent Cinema, at the location of Coatham Pier

In 1964 the New Pavilion Theatre was transformed into the Regent Cinema. The Redcar Pier pavilion continued in use after the war but storm damage led to it being declared unsafe and it was demolished in 1980–1981.^[5][13]

Redcar Steelworks

The steelworks in 2020 and 2023

The town's main employers in the post-war era were the nearby Teesside Steelworks at Warrenby, founded by Dorman Long in 1917, and the ICI Wilton chemical works. The steel produced at Dorman Long was used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Tyne Bridge, Auckland Harbour Bridge and many others. Both the Warrenby and Lackenby sites became part of Tata Steel when Corus was taken over in 2007, but continued to trade under the Corus name until at least February 2008. SSI bought the plant from Tata Steel in February 2011, for £320 million.

After a two-year hiatus following the mothballing of the plant in February 2010, steel was once again being made at Redcar. The Thai owners of the former Corus Plant at Lackenby, Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), re-ignited the blast furnace, one of the largest in Europe, on 15 April 2012.^[17]

On 18 September 2015, production was paused due to the decline in steel prices.^[18] On 28 September 2015, the plant was "mothballed" amid poor steel trading conditions across the world and a drop in steel prices.^[19] On 2 October, the owner of the site, SSI UK, entered liquidation. On 12 October 2015 the administrator announced that there was no realistic prospect of finding a buyer and the ovens would be extinguished.

Wards and areas

Wards periodically change, as of 2018 the town is made up of Coatham, Dormanstown, Kirkleatham, Newcomen, West Dyke, Wheatlands and Zetland.^[2] Redcar is made up of areas that do not lend their name to a ward: Warrenby, Lakes Estate, Redcar East, The Ings, Ings Farm, Mickledales and Westfield.

On 5 May 2011 Redcar elected its councillors to Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council.^[20] There was a by-election on 18 November 2011 for two vacant seats in the Zetland ward, held onto by the Liberal Democrats,^[21] and on 19 January 2012 there was a by-election for a vacant seat in Newcomen ward subsequently gained by Labour from the Liberal Democrats.^[22]

Authority

Redcar was formerly a township and chapelry in the parishes of Marske and Upleatham.^[23] In 1866, Redcar became a separate civil parish. A district in Redcar's name formed in 1885. Three years after the district was formed, the centuries-old Yorkshire authority was replaced by the North Riding of Yorkshire county council. The district became an urban district in 1894.^[3]

The settlement's town charter occurred in 1922, the district was able to be styled as a municipal borough and the settlement as a town. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with Teesside and Marske.^[24] On 1 April 1968 the municipal borough was abolished merged into the County Borough of Teesside, part also went to Saltburn and Marske by the Sea Urban District.^[25] This removed it from the administrative county however still ceremonially in the area.^[26] In 1961 the parish had a population of 31,460.^[27]

The 1974 reform created the non-metropolitan County of Cleveland, under the Langbaurgh non-metropolitan district. The county was also inserted into the North East England region. After further changes in 1996, the district became a unitary authority called Redcar & Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, the county straddling two regions of England.^[28]

The North East England region was sub-divided into combined authorities. In May 2017, the Tees Valley which includes Redcar, elected its first mayor. Ben Houchen has been Tees Valley Mayor since 2017, winning the inaugural mayoral election in the combined authority. Houchen was re-elected in 2021 and won a third term in 2024.

As mayor, Houchen represents the five local authority areas in the Tees Valley: Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, and Darlington, and he also acts as chairman of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, the body tasked with driving economic growth and job creation in the area.^[29]

As of May 2024^[update], Houchen is the only Conservative combined-authority mayor in England.

Parliament

From 1987 to 2001, the local Member of Parliament (MP) was Mo Mowlam. From 2001 to 2010 the MP was Vera Baird. In the 2010 general election there was a swing to the Liberal Democrats with Ian Swales being elected. But, in the 2015 general election, Anna Turley, a Labour MP, won back Redcar. In the snap 2017 general election, Anna Turley held onto that seat. In the general election on 12 December 2019, Anna Turley lost her seat to Conservative candidate Jacob Young with a majority of 3,527 votes. Young became the third conservative MP to represent Redcar, the first being Royal Naval Commander Robert Tatton Bower 1931 to 1945 and Scarborough businessman Wilfred Proudfoot between 1959 and 1964 when Redcar was part of the Cleveland constituency. In the general election on 4 July 2024, Anna Turley regained the seat.

Culture

The Palace Hub, on the beach front, was built by Redcar and Cleveland Council for the creative and cultural sector of the town. An art gallery and business start up centre are located in the building. The main library is in the Redcar Heart building in the centre of the town and there is a long-standing Redcar Literary Institute, which was founded in 1896.

Redcar is home to the Tuned In! Centre, which opened in 2011 and overlooks the sea front. The multi purpose venue hosts live music as well as creative workshops for young people. The annual event Clubland on the Beach, which showcases dance acts attracting visitors from across the country, has been held at Majuba Road in Redcar for the past three years.

Parks

Coatham Enclosure boating lake

Zetland Park, eastern entrance

The town has had several parks built for tourism: Coatham Enclosure, Locke Park, Zetland Park, Lily Park, an Amusement Park with a roller coaster, and a small sea front park known locally as Titty Bottle Park. The Amusement Park near the railway closed decades ago, and Titty Bottle Park was absorbed into the redeveloped sea front around Redcar Beacon.

Towers

Redcar Beacon

The town's clock tower

At the west end of High Street is a Grade II listed clock tower,^[30] a memorial to King Edward VII who was a regular visitor to Redcar. The tower has now been refurbished.

Construction of the Redcar Beacon started in 2011.^[31] In 2013, when the building had been completed, it was nominated for the Building Design Carbuncle Cup for worst new building. It came third in the whole of the UK.^[32] In December 2015, the Beacon was damaged by winds from Storm Desmond, with several large pieces of panelling falling onto the beach below. It was also damaged in winter 2016, where a panel from the top fell off in a storm.^[33]

Buildings

• 
  Zetland Lifeboat Museum, Esplanade
• 
  Turner's Hospital, Kirkleatham
• 
  Former Coatham Hotel

There are 23 listed buildings in Redcar.^[34] The Grade I Listed Sir William Turner's Hospital in Kirkleatham was built between 1674–1676 and listed on the 14 June 1952.^[35]

On the Esplanade is the Grade II-Listed Zetland Lifeboat Museum^[36] housing the world's oldest lifeboat Zetland Lifeboat.

The Victorian, former Coatham Hotel stands on Newcomen Terrace sea front.^[37][38] The ballroom of the hotel was home to the Redcar Jazz Club, a venue for the up-and-coming bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Structures and sculptures

In the south-east of Redcar is an aircraft listening post built in 1916 during the First World War as part of a regional defence system to detect approaching aircraft, principally Zeppelins, and give early warning.It is an example of an acoustic mirror, of which other examples can be found along the east coast of Britain. The mirror was used up until the invention of radar and although it was built on open fields today a modern housing estate now surrounds it. Only the concrete sound mirror remains and is now a Grade II listed building.^[39][40]