Bidston Observatory
This beautiful grade-II listed building sits proudly on the ridge of the hill watching over the Windmill, Park Wood and Bidston Village. It is visible from both Wales and Liverpool.
The Observatory was built in 1866 when Liverpool Observatory had to relocate due to the expansion of Waterloo Docks. The building was made using the stone mined during the creation of the cellars, the deepest of which (36 feet or 10.97 meters) maintains a constant cool temperature. Over the last 140 years the Observatory has undertaken a diversity of tasks, many of ground-breaking importance.
The Lighthouse
Bidston’s first lighthouse was built in 1771 as a replacement for a previous lighthouse situated a quarter of a mile out to sea at Leasowe. The remaining lighthouse at Leasowe (which still stands today) and the new lighthouse on Bidston Hill were known as the “Sea Lights”. Together they provided a leading line to guide ships through the Horse Channel, a safe passage between the treacherous sandbanks of Liverpool Bay. The building was 55 feet high and had five floors. The top floor was the lantern room which contained a single parabolic mirror (a bowl-shaped mirror which focuses the light from the lamp into a powerful beam) 12 feet across. The parabolic reflector was invented by William Hutchinson, Liverpool’s Dockmaster. Bidston’s reflector was the largest of its kind and one of the first to be installed in an operational lighthouse. The lantern burned a gallon of oil every four hours and could been seen twenty-one nautical miles out to sea.
The lighthouse is now privately owned and is often open to the public. It has its own web site.
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