Bidston Hill is 100 acres of heathland and woodland that contains historic buildings and mysterious rock carvings. It is on the Wirral Peninsula at the edge of the town of Birkenhead. With a peak of 231 feet, Bidston Hill is one of the highest points on the Wirral. The land was bought by Lord Vyner around 1900 for use by the public. The Wirral is a peninsula bounded by the River Dee to the west and the River Mersey to the east. ... Map sources for Birkenhead at grid reference SJ3088 Birkenhead is a town on The Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, on the left bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. ...
Buildings
Bidston Windmill replaced a wooden mill that was destroyed by fire in 1793, and was used to grind wheat until 1875. However it is believed that there has been a windmill on this site since 1596. After falling into disuse it was bought and restored in the 1890s. It is open on the first Sunday each month between 2:00pm and 4:00pm. The current Bidston Windmill was built in about 1800 and continued working as a flour mill until 1875. ...
Bidston Observatory was built in 1866 using local sandstone excavated from the site. One of its functions was to determine the exact time. Up to 1962 at exactly 1:00 pm each day. the 'One-0'clock Gun' on Birkenhead Dock would be fired electrically from the Observatory. In 1929 the work of the observatory was merged with the University of Liverpool Tidal Institute. The University of Liverpool is a university in the city of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. ...
There has been a lighthouse on the hill since 1771. The present lighthouse was built in 1873 but has not been used since 1913. Together with the Leasowe Lighthouse, it enabled the ships to avoid the sandbanks in the channel to Liverpool. Leasowe Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Leasowe, Wirral, Merseyside in the north west of England, and within the North Wirral Coastal Park, a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). ... Liverpools skyline, as seen from the River Mersey. ...
Rock carvings
There is a four and a half foot long carving of a 'Sun Goddess', carved into the flat rock north-east of the Observatory - it is supposed to face the direction of the rising sun on midsummer's day and was thought to have been carved by the Norse-Irish around 1000 A.D. Another ancient carving of a horse can be found on the bare rock north of the Observatory, just before the path turns down to Bidston Village.
Nowadays it fights to survive, to retain its identity, in the sprawling midst of urban decimation of the landscape in the form of council and private housing.
Bidston Hall, Church Farm and Yew Tree Farm all date from the seventeenth century; across the road from the church is Stone farm, which was formerly the Ring o' Bells Inn with a swinging signboard depicting the ringers at work.
A township in Bidston Parish, Wirral Hundred (SJ In 1928 parts of the civil parish were transferred to Birkenhead and Wallasey, and in 1933 the remaining area was added to Birkenhead.
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