Redcar Pier was a promenade and landing pier constructed on The Esplanade in Redcar on the north east coast of Yorkshire. The construction of Redcar Pier in Redcar was proposed in 1866 and the Redcar Pier Company was formed. However, there was little interest in proceeding until plans were drawn up for a pier at neighbouring Coatham. The Redcar Pier scheme was financed by the sale of shares and a donation from the Earl of Zetland.
Design, construction and opening
The pier design was by J.E. & A. Dowson. Head and Wright Son built the pier beginning construction in August 1871. The pier was completed by 1873 at a cost of £11,000 and opened on 2 June that year. by Rear Admiral Chaloner. The pier design expanded to wide at the pier head with a landing stage and a bandstand so that bands could play to an audience of 700 undercover. The pier was originally long with three kiosks at the pier entrance.
Operation and decline
In 1880 the brig Luna was driven ashore in a storm and when refloated later the remains of the Luna were driven through the pier in a storm on 30 October 1880. Redcar pier landing stage was damaged and carried away by the SS Cochranepaddle steamer in 1885 but this was never rebuilt. The pier was damaged by the schooner Amarant in January 1897 causing a breach but the pier was repaired. The pier head, saloon and bandstand was destroyed by fire in August 1898 causing £1,000–£1,500 of damage, but the bandstand was not replaced. A pavilion ballroom was added on the pier in 1907 and extended on the landward side in 1928 to include a cafe. In 1940 during the second world war, a long central section of the pier was removed in case of an invasion. During the war the pier was further damaged by storms and an exploding mine.
Post war
Redcar council bought the pier in 1946 for £4,500 however, the pier was never repaired and simply allowed to disintegrate. The East coast storms of 1953 caused further damage. After loss of further pier length in a storm in 1978 the coastguard hut at the end of the pier was removed and the coastguard re-established on the roof of the Zetland Lifeboat Museum. In August 1978 a Wurlitzer organ was installed in the pier ballroom and was in use for 18 months before being removed after further damage to the pier by the sea. In 1980 Langbaurgh Borough Council declared the pier unsafe and that year sold the pier for £250 as scrap. With demolition over the year end 1980–1981 the site was cleared by March 1981. The final length of the pier was. A blue plaque on a seafront brick wall on the Esplanade indicates the site of the former Redcar Pier.
