Redcar

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Redcar lies on the Yorkshire coast, at the mouth of the River Tees, and made its way onto the railway map on 3 June 1846 with the opening of the line from Middlesbrough. It was given a handsome passenger terminus - Redcar Old Station - but this was bypassed when the railway was extended to Saltburn. Passenger services through the second Redcar Station to Saltburn began on 19 August 1861, the extension line having been formally opened two days earlier. The second station remains, though trains now bypass its trainshed, while the Old Station enjoyed a long afterlife as a public hall, cinema and shops before the last portion was demolished in the nineteen-sixties.

The only relic of Redcar's early railway days is a terrace of cottages designed by the company architect, John Middleton, in a similar Tudor-Revival style to that which he employed shortly after on the Wear Valley Railway. (see Wolsingham) These were originally situated on the seaward side of the line approaching the Old Station, but to facilitate development in that area they were dismantled and faithfully re-erected as estate housing in Kirkleatham, two miles away. Located just west of Kirkleatham Church, they are the sole Middlesbrough & Redcar Railway buildings to have survived.

 Contact: info@railwayarchitecture.org.uk

© W. Fawcett, 2011