A History of Bidston

 

Bidston is a village, a parish and a suburb of Birkenhead, a mixture of the well-preserved Bidston Village, Bidston Hill and Bidston Moss nature reserve. Bidston Village has appeared in records since Doomsday, but evidence for occupation goes back to the Stone Age. It has been occupied since the Mesolithic era being evidenced by flints excavated during the 1990s. Neolithic and Roman artefacts have also been discovered in the vicinity of the village. The circular nature of the grounds of St Oswald's church indicate an early origin to the site. Bidston Hill contains a number of ancient rock carvings, including that of a Sun Goddess, measuring four and a half feet, thought to have been carved by the Norse-Irish circa 1000AD. The Village still maintains its medieval shape of church, farms, village green and manor house.

Bidston Hall

The original parish of Bidston comprised Bidston, Moreton, Saughall Massie, Claughton and Birkenhead. The Village has a rich heritage, and has been involved in several key points of British history and at one time was owned by the Stanley family, who became Earls of Derby. Bidston Church is on the the site of the original 12th century church with the tower dating from 1520. From the church you can travel through the village and see the variety of farm houses (all from different eras), through to Bidston Hall. The Hall was built by William, 6th Earl of Derby in 1595, by whom it was used as a shooting lodge. Following the Civil War, William's heir, James, refused to recognise Cromwell as ruler and fled to his estates on the Isle of Man before being beheaded at Bolton in 1651.                   Constructed of yellow sandstone, the front approach to the hall is through a square court, with a handsome gateway decorated with the arms of the Stanley family. The western front has bay windows and projecting gables, and the entrance is in the centre of the front, formed in a semicircular porch, which rises the entire height of the building. The 6th Earl of Derby has been closely associated with William Shakespeare and is credited with bringing Shakespeare to Bidston Hall as a member of a band of actors. Bidston Hall was originally held by the heirs of Hamon de Massey, eventually passing to the Stanley family after being purchased by John Stanley of Lathom on the 24th of June 1397. As Royalists, the Stanley family forfeited their lands during the Commonwealth, but on the Restoration of the monarchy the village came into the possession of Lord Kingston in 1662 and in 1680 to Sir Robert Vyner, royal goldsmith and banker and sometime Mayor of London. A lady known as Charlotte, employed by Sir Robert and nearly as well known to Charles 11 as Nell Gwynn, lived at Bidston Hall for a time and it was she who modelled for Britannia on our coinage. It is because of the Vyner family that the village has remained in the style of a Medieval village, and in the late 20th century was designated as a Conservation Area. Birkenhead Borough Council purchased Bidston Hill from Lord de Grey Vyner between 1894 and 1908 with funds raised by public subscription matched by Birkenhead Corporation (a total of £30,310). The residential buildings in the village core date from between the 16th and 18th century. Typically, these are former farmhouses, farm buildings and cottages, constructed from local red sandstone with many being Grade II listed.



The windmill on Bidston Hill is mentioned in an early manuscript dated 1609 and may have been there as early as 1596 and is next mentioned in the Kingston map of 1665. The mill of 1665 was a 'peg mill' which was destroyed in 1791 during a gale. In the high winds, the sails revolved so fast that the friction caused the machinery to ignite! In 1800, a new 'tower mill' was built from brick to replace the peg mill and ground corn to flour for 75 years. In this style of mill the top or 'cap' can be rotated through 360° so that sails can follow the direction of the wind. On the back of the mill there is large wooden chain-wheel, which was used to turn the roof slowly around using a rack and gear system.                     Liverpool expert on all things paranormal, Tom Slemen, wrote a guide of haunted places for the Liverpool Echo in 2013 in which he claimed Bidston Hill to be one of the 'most mysterious supernatural landmarks in the country'. He said: "Bidston Hill has a long, dark reputation as being a meeting place for various covens and occultists. Several ghosts are said to haunt this hill and its famous windmill. Bidston Hill is also classed by many investigators of UFOs as a 'window area' – a hot-spot of UFO activity where strange craft and lights in the sky regularly appear." The area's associations with witches and witchcraft include Alex Sanders, who was born Orrel Alexander Carter in 1926 at Birkenhead, and was known as the 'King of the Witches'. He practised a form of witchcraft that was a blend of Crowley's magic and Masonic symbolism. One of two deep air raid shelters, with 2,213 bunks and 793 seats, was built under Bidston Hill's Rhododendron Garden, its entrance facing Hoylake Road. The tunnels also had a canteen, staff dormitory, toilets, medical aid post and a ventilation shaft which could double as an emergency escape hatch. Further secret tunnels under Bidston are said to lead from a former fever hospital on Flaybrick Hill directly to the old chapel at Flaybrick Cemetery. Some suggest that these tunnels were used to connect the houses of witches together and that the cellar of Bidston Hall acted at the nexus. More likely they were used by smugglers who would have spread tales of witchcraft and demons to keep people away. There is nothing like a good supernatural scare to keep unwanted attention away from the tunnels.

Within the Bidston area is Flaybrick Memorial Gardens, Wirral's finest Victorian cemetery. Set in 26 acres of landscaped gardens, it contains a great variety of memorial architecture. Originally planned in the 1840s, Joseph Paxton was approached to design a large municipal cemetery for the expanding township of Birkenhead, but due to a recession and a subsequent decrease in the population, the plan went no further. With the return of prosperity in the 1860s, the proposal was revived and a competition held for the design of a cemetery on a site adjacent to a sandstone quarry at Flaybrick Hill. The design was won by Edward Kemp, a pupil of Joseph Paxton and Curator of Birkenhead Park. Kemp also designed the layout of the City of Liverpool Cemetery at Anfield. The cemetery was officially opened on the 30th of May 1864 and named Birkenhead Cemetery, with the site originally having three separate denominational chapels. In 1871 it was noted that this rugged and barren piece of land had been turned into 'a place of surpassing beauty and elegance'. It was designated as a conservation area in 1990 and in 1995 renamed Flaybrick Memorial gardens with the creation of an arboretum.

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