Redcar
A considerable fishery is carried on, the fish taken being chiefly cod, ling, haddock, turbot, lobsters, crabs, and shrimps, of which great quantities are sent to various parts of the county; but the want of a convenient harbour renders the pursuit somewhat hazardous, and notwithstanding the fishermen's intimate knowledge of the coast, boats and lives are occasionally lost. Some protection, however, is afforded in landing, by the ridges of aluminous schistus rocks, called the Salt Scar and the East Scar, that extend into the sea opposite Redcar for above a mile, and form between them a capacious basin or natural harbour when the water falls below their level, which it does at half tide. These rocks, instead of being a series of irregular heaps, serve as piers, or breakwaters, and might readily be converted by the hand of man into a means of preventing the shipwrecks which are so frequent on this dangerous coast. Mr. Brooks, the civil engineer, conceived the idea of taking advantage of these natural features, and an application was made to parliament for a private bill, to form a harbour of 510 acres, having 30 feet at low water; but the proposition was rejected, on the principle that a measure so largely relating to the protection of life and property, should be undertaken by the nation. The subject is again attracting the attention of the legislature, from the strong recommendation of the committee on shipwrecks: and it is not unlikely that something will eventually be done, as there is no deep-water harbour, or harbour which can be entered at all states of the tide, in the long distance between the Frith of Forth and the Humber. An excellent life-boat establishment is supported by subscription; and here is a coast-guard station.
The chapelry comprises by computation 520 acres, of which about 150, including between 30 and 40 acres of inferior land called the sea banks, are pasture; the surface is level, and the soil various, being on the sea-side a sandy loam, and inland for the most part clay, producing excellent wheat. The Earl of Zetland is lord of the manor, and chief proprietor of the soil. Redcar House, a handsome mansion overlooking the sea, is the residence of James Ewbank, Esq. The chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, is in the later English style, with a square tower surmounted by four turrets, and contains 700 sittings, of which half are free; it was erected in 1828, at a cost of £2700, raised by subscription, aided by a grant of £500 from the Incorporated Society, and a donation of £600 from the late Earl of Zetland. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the present Earl, with a net income of £56, and a neat parsonage-house, situated near the chapel. There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans; and a parochial school, with a house for the master, built by the first Lord Dundas, is partly supported by the Earl of Zetland, and partly by subscription. The rocks in the vicinity of Redcar abound with fossil remains; and on the East Scar are found ammonites of 20 inches in diameter.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.