Loftus
Redcar and Cleveland
The town is about 3½ miles west of Staithes and 4 miles south-east of Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
While there was a long-established village at Loftus, it grew in the Victorian era due to iron mining in the area. It gained a railway, a station and a Town Hall.
Loftus also established its present name during the Victorian era having earlier being recorded as Lofthouse, a name shared by two other Yorkshire villages.
The station closed to passengers in 1960, but the line remains to serve the potash mine at Boulby, 2½ miles away.
St Leonard's is the anglican parish church of Lofthouse and mostly dates from the end of the 19th century when a rebuilding of an earlier church was commenced in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. However, the new church was not consecrated until the year after her death in 1901. Loftus also has a Catholic Church, dedicated to Saint Joseph and Saint Cuthbert.
Town features
Loftus has a choice of pubs.
The town has shops.
The town has a Post Office.
The town has a pharmacy.
The town has a cafe.
Takeaway food outlets in the town include fish and chips, chinese.
Loftus has a town hall.
The town has a leisure centre with swimming pool.
There are public toilets in the town with limited hours of use - 9-4 Winter, 8-5 Summer.
Loftus has schools.
Places of worship: Anglican, Catholic.
Travel
Bus travel
The town has buses to neighbouring towns and villages.Road travel
Loftus can be reached via the A174 B1366Places to visit
Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre
Redcar's original lifeboat 'Zetland', built in 1802, is now the world's oldest surviving lifeboat and well worth a visit. Long before the days of the RNLI, the boat was the 11th to be built by Yorkshireman Henry Greathead. After moving to South Shields, County Durham, early in his life, he built more than 30 life-saving boats. The large open wooden rowing vessel which saved 500 lives in its 78-year service is housed in an old lifeboat station which now charts its history. The boat's historical importance is such that it listed on the National Historic Ship Register. Upstairs is a museum with a fascinating selection of boat models, nautical instruments and displays of past photographs of Redcar's seaside history and the boats that were wrecked on its hidden rocks. The free entry museum is supported by volunteers, donations and fundraising.
More information at
Saltburn Pier
Lower Promenade, Saltburn-by-the-SeaGisborough Priory
Church Street, GuisboroughThe stonework of the 14th century east end of the priory church and part of an original Norman gatehouse survive among the ruins of one of the first Augustinian priories to be built in England. Gisborough was founded in 1119 by Robert de Brus, an ancestor of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland, and dissolved in Henry VIII's reign in 1540. The family-owned priory site is managed by the Gisborough Priory Project which is restoring gardens established on the site around 1700. The site is open from the beginning of March to the end of October. The usual opening is Wednesdays to Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from 10am to 4pm, but check the website for any alterations or dates when the site is closed for events. Entry is free, but the site relies upon donations.
For full details see the Gisborough Priory Project Gisborough Priory Project website
or English Heritage English Heritage - Gisborough Priory website.
Find on map: Gisborough Priory More about Guisborough
Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum
Mill Lane, SkinningroveSituated on the site of the earliest mine in the area, opened in 1848, this independent museum celebrates the ironstone mining heritage of the Cleveland Hills. More than 80 Cleveland mines were responsible for around one-third of Britain's iron production, which was shipped around the world. The museum provides a guided tour and the chance to explore the old buildings of the mine, experience candlelit tunnels and view the equipment the miners carried as they went about their work. The museum is open daily, except Sundays, from mid-March to late October.
Find out more at the
Captain Cook Birthplace Museum
Stewart Park, MartonReknowned explorer Captain James Cook was born in 1728 in the village of Marton, around 3 miles south of what is now the larger Middlesbrough. Although the birthplace cottage is no longer there, a purpose-built museum tells the story of the world-famous Yorkshire navigator.
More details at the
Ormesby Hall
Ladgate Lane, Ormesby (B1380)Situated around 4 miles south-east of Middlesbrough and 7 miles south-west of Redcar, Ormesby Hall is a fine Georgian mansion set in 250 acres of parkland and farmland with a formal Victorian garden and stories of the life of the family who bequeathed the property to the National Trust.
More information at the
North York Moors National Park
Part of the Redcar and Cleveland borough is within The North York Moors National Park which stretches across the moors and along the coast in the south and east of the district. For further details about the National Park see ourEmergency services
Cleveland PoliceCleveland Fire Brigade
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
HM Coastguard
Local government
Civil parish council
Loftus Town CouncilProvides some local services in the area.
Link to council website:
Borough (unitary district) council
Redcar and Cleveland Borough CouncilRedcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority based in Redcar. Its boundary runs from the eastern edge of Middlebrough along the River Tees to its long stretch of North Sea coast as far as Cowbar, on the western side of Staithes Beck. To the east and south the edge of the district is within the North York Moors National Park.
In addition to Redcar, places within the district include
The council is divided into 22 electoral wards. Each has one, two or three councillors. All the council are elected at four-year intervals.
Link to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council website.
Political composition after May 2023 election:
Cross-county strategic authority
Tees Valley Combined AuthorityProvides a decision-making authority on economic development, transport, infrastructure and skills in the four unitary boroughs (Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland) which for a time made up the county of Cleveland and now with the addition of the Darlington unitary authority. It is made up of representatives from each authority plus the chairman of Tees Valley Unlimited, the local enterprise partnership. A mayor for the Tees Valley Combined Authority was first elected in May 2017 with the most recent election in May 2024. Of the boroughs involved, Middlesborough, Redcar and Cleveland and a part of Stockton-on-Tees (south of the River Tees) are part of the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire with the other areas part of the ceremonial county of Durham.
Elected mayor:
Police and Crime Commissioner
The Police and Crime Commissioner for ClevelandOversees Cleveland Police covering an area made up of the four borough (unitary district) councils of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
Elected P&CC:
Fire Authority
Cleveland Fire AuthorityThe 16-member fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the four borough (unitary district) councils of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
Parliamentary constituency
Middlesbrough South and East ClevelandElected MP:
National government region
North East EnglandCeremonial county
North YorkshireHistoric
-1968 In the North Riding of Yorkshire.1968-1974 The northern part of what is now Redcar and Cleveland borough was placed in the County Borough of Teesside, independent of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
1974-1988 The present borough area was created as the borough of Langbaurgh within the artificially-created county authority of Cleveland (which included Teesside County Borough, districts from the North Riding of Yorkshire and the borough of Hartlepool, County Durham).
1988-1996 As above but with the borough renamed Langbaurgh-on-Tees.
1996- County of Cleveland abolished. Langbaurgh-on-Tees becomes a Unitary Authority as Redcar and Cleveland.