Bidston Village, Hall & Hill
Updated: 24 June 2008
Friends of Bidston Hill
Images of
My Visits
Flaybrick
Cemetery
http://www.friendsofbidstonhill.com/
Nestling at the edge of the Birkenhead boundary, and just before you pass down Fender Lane to arrive in Moreton, lies the hamlet and ancient village of Bidston. Or "Biddy" as we knew it. As a child in the late 50s early 60s, this was an enchanted world of ancient buildings, a "magic" village shop, and seemingly miles of woodland. 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. Although the Council is bound by decree and law to uphold the Hill for the public, they are allowing houses to creep closer and closer. The threat to this time capsule dot on the map is complete and utter annihilation and all that will be left of it is a "name" on a map. I can only hope that the council of Birkenhead can find both the time and the money to protect this most ancient of places for us and future generations to admire. The village shop was, I believe, held within a converted barn on the "main street". The shop door was large, heavy wooden, heavily studded and today would be worth a kings ransom. Oh how it was all taken for granted, and now is almost lost without trace, so very sad.
Bidston(e) Cottage (Courtesy of Peter Rodger)
Label
from the painting above reads: No 1: Cottage at Bidstone with a letter
(below) from Walker Art Gallery authenticating the work as
David Woodlock and
giving details about the artist. (c) Kemble & Rodgers 2003.
Click to Enlarge
Below: St Oswald's Church in Bidston Village. I can remember the Lych Gate, through which you entered the church which is to the right of this image. St Oswald's Church has been standing here since 1856, but there is evidence of earlier churches on this site going back to the 12th Century and possibly before.
Sandwiched between council housing developments and sliced through the middle by a busy main road the tiny centuries old village of Bidston hangs grimly onto survival. So started a newspaper article from 1970. Since then the village has been isolated by the building of a bypass which takes the main, very busy, road from Birkenhead, through Moreton and west around Bidston Village. The article continues: Like a flashback into the past it straddles the main road to Hoylake barely a couple of miles from the depression of Birkenhead. But the lovely old cottages and farmhouses, their fields increasingly being taken away for housing, are falling into disrepair, thatched roofs are wearing thin. And nobody, it seems, are prepared to take the necessary action to preserve the village gem whose history goes back centuries. But one man who does care, and who is determined that the neglect of Bidston shall end, is Mr Maxwell Faulkner, architect turned businessman, who, a few years ago, rebuilt Bidston Hall (see above) from its ruins into the beautiful property it is today.
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The manor of Bidston, a township in Cheshire, and the entire parish, were formerly part of the barony of Dunham Massey, and continued in the possession of the lords of Dunham for about a century and a half, when they came into possession of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, in the 9th Edward 111. He afterwards gave them, with other lands, to Roger de Strange, Lord of Knockyn, in exchange for lands in Lincolnshire; and they continued in possession of this family until about the 21st Henry VI., when the manor of Bidston passed to the family of the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, who held them until 1653, when they were sold by Charlotte de la Tremouille, Countess of Derby, and her son Charles, Earl of Derby, to William Steele, Esq., a commissioner-at-law, by whom they were resold, in the reign of Charles II., to Lord Kingston, an Irish peer, and some years afterwards the property was again sold to Sir Robert Vyner, lord mayor of London. Bidston Hall stands on a commanding situation on a rock of yellow freestone, of which material it is built. The western front has bay windows and projecting gables, and the entrance is in the centre of the front, formed iii a semicircular porch, which rises the entire height of the building. The eastern side corresponds with the western, but has in addition a piazza along the lower story. The front approach Is through a square court, with a handsome gateway having a singular arch highly ornamented with the cognizances of the Derby family. In some intermediatory purchase it is said Bidston Hall was won and lost at cards, to commemorate which a summer-house was built in the form of a club, as usually represented in that card, the foundations of which still remain in the picturesque grounds attached to the hail.— See Mortincer’S History of the Hundred of Wirral. |
The Hall was built by William, 6th Earl of Derby, it is believed, in 1595, and now restored, stands as an example of what could more easily be done to the group of three and four centuries old buildings around the parish church 200 yards away. Mr Faulkner has now, at his own expense, produced a 50 page survey of Bidston, telling its history, its present problems, and his recommendations for a permanent solution. Called "An Appeal For Survival" (published at the end of January 08?) and copies be sent to the village owners - all but the hall is settled in a family trust - Birkenhead Corporation, The Ministry of Housing & Local Government, the Society For The Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Civic Trust and other bodies, in an attempt to force action before it is too late. The village passed into the hands of the VYNER family in the 17th Century, and is now administered as a family trust. The present head of the family is Cdr C G VYNER who lives in Sawley, Yorks. He told me "I think, in theory, one wants to preserve as much as possible, but with the surrounding development, one must face facts as they are (I suspect he didn't give a damn in truth) When you have a place like Birkenhead on the doorstep there is a limit to what you can do. Cdr VYNER said that some years ago he had presented the Rhododendron Gardens to Birkenhead Corporation to act as a buffer for the village on the condition that they were maintained in the same beautiful condition. Now they are a neglected wasteland used as a playground by children. Naturally I would like to see the village as it was but these things are taken out of one's hands."
Mr Faulkner said yesterday "The absolute first vital essential is that the village must be made into a conservation area under The Town And Country Planning Act so that the buildings cannot be pulled down for any reason. He wants to see Birkenhead Corporation take the initiative in this to conserve for future generations as an outstanding asset to the town, properly and sympathetically restored. He also wants the area of the village clearly defined, with more tree planting, all designed to cut down the vandalism which is the backlash of the new estates. (This will be the Ford Estate which now (2003) virtually swallows everything in its path) A bypass is already planned as part of the new motorway system (already done and dusted) but Mr Faulkner believes that until the present road is completely closed up the village concept can never be fully achieved. (I recently stood on this road trying to take photographs but kept having to "run" for the kerb due to the volume of traffic - 2004) He estimates £20,000 as the amount needed. One of the village residents, Mrs Margaret Parkinson, of Ivy Farm - her husband, with no land left to farm, is the local golf club greenkeeper - has a photograph taken only 16 years ago, of cattle walking along the road outside the house. Now, at the rush hour, the residents can barely cross the road. On the skyline are the tower blocks of corporation flats as the estates come closer. The latest development for which road works are already completed will come to within a few hundred yards of the village. Mr Faulkner says frankly that he does not believe the local authority care about the village.
Cottages in School Lane Bidston
Although Mr A Thelwell, the Deputy Town Clerk, denies this and says that "a survey of the old houses is now going on with a view to putting preservation orders on them depending on condition". Mr Faulkner says this was done in 1961 without any resulting action. "I want the owners, the local authority, and the residents to get together at an initial meeting to get to grips with the reality of the problem." Soon he is moving his business interests to the south, "Before I go I want to finish off the job with the Hall", Mr Faulkner says.
1950s approx and the same image in July 2003
Bidston windmill, taken by me
about 1975 and the same shot taken on 12th
February 2004, 29 years later. (The lady is still my wife!).
The Mill now has its own page in here at
http://www.mikekemble.com/mside/bidstonmill.html
Bidston Lighthouse
St Oswald's Bidston Parish Church
It is known that a church was in existence in Bidston when Birkenhead Priory was founded in the middle twelfth century. The church was re-built about the middle of the thirteenth century and the tower added in 1520. This is the tower which still stands today and which is the only part of the present-day church dating from before 1856, when a further rebuilding took place, the previous structure having fallen into disrepair.
It is likely that the tower contained bells in the sixteenth century and that these were replaced by a ring of three cast in 1615. One of these is said to have come originally from the Shrine of St Hildeburgh on Hilbre Island, which lies off the north-west tip of the Wirral Peninsula at the north end of the Dee Estuary. These bells were replaced by a ring of five, cast by Mears and Stainbank, in 1868. The treble was added in 1882.
The present dedication of the church - Saint Oswald - arises from an inscription on one of the old bells. The original dedication was not known and it was assumed from this inscription that the patron saint was Oswald. The church was therefore formally dedicated to Saint Oswald in 1882. However, since the bell in question had actually been brought from St Oswald's Church in Chester, it appears that the assumption may have been unfounded.
The church lies in the heart of the village of Bidston and can be approached from one of two directions. Travelling from Birkenhead in the east, the visitor passes Bidston Hill and Observatory and descends to see the church at the bottom of the hill, sitting on a steep grassy bank and surrounded by farm buildings - a prospect which has remained largely unchanged for over a hundred years. From the south-west, the tower is visible for a mile or so from the road which runs alongside the area now known as Beechwood and which was named the Ford Estate when it was built in the early 1970s to re-house the inhabitants of the North End of Birkenhead when a large number of houses were demolished. It was the creation of the Ford Estate which significantly altered the nature of the parish of Bidston.
The parish boundaries originally encompassed a large part of North Wirral - Moreton, Saughall Massie, Claughton and Birkenhead, as well as Bidston itself. Bidston became separated from its smaller townships at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Birkenhead was boosted by the flourishing sea trade and effectively became a suburb of Liverpool. In 1801, Bidston had 199 inhabitants and Birkenhead 110. By 1831, Bidston's population had risen only gradually to 252 while Birkenhead's had mushroomed to 2,569. With the contracting of its boundaries, the parish, although still covering a large area, retained its rural character - a character which still prevails today in the centre of the village.
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. Unfortunately, the last landlord, Simon Croft, was also one of the inn's best customers and did little to discourage drunken behaviour, which distressed the churchgoers and led to the inn being closed down in 1868. This left the village without any licensed house for more than a century.
The twentieth century has seen various housing estates spring up throughout the parish - Birkenhead North End, part of Noctorum, Ballantyne and Beechwood. The population of the parish now numbers some 10,000. The presence of these housing estates persuaded the church to reconsider its role of ministry in the community. The parish hall having been destroyed by fire, there were few facilities for the parish population, and it was decided to redesign and refurbish the interior of the church so that it could be used for community activities. This was completed in 1988 at a cost of £120,000. At the time of writing, the Community Project is celebrating its tenth anniversary.
The church has had a stable band of ringers almost continuously since the inception of the Chester Diocesan Guild in 1887, though little is known about the ringing before that date. A notable figure was William Wilcox, who learned to ring in 1883 and took over the tower captaincy in 1889, a position which he held until 1931. He conducted the first peal at Bidston by a local band in 1911. Mr Wilcox and his wife ran a sweet and tobacco business from their thatched cottage in School Lane which had once been the village school - sadly, it was destroyed in the Second World War. After his retirement from the captaincy he moved to Essex where he died in 1947, but he is buried in Bidston churchyard. Jim Smith followed him as tower captain from 1931 until 1939, and Banky Pemberton, having learned to ring shortly after the War ended, was given the captaincy in 1947 and held it, like William Wilcox before him, for over forty years.
The refurbishment of the church, however, had repercussions for the bellringers. Until 1988, the bells had been rung from the ground floor of the church. This area was now used for kitchen facilities, and so the ringing chamber was moved upstairs to a new room which doubled as an office. Because of the angle at which the ropes were dragged across the room between the new ringing-chamber and the bell-chamber, they were very difficult to ring and well nigh impossible for teaching learners, and so regular ringing stopped in 1991.
In 1994 work was started to make the bells ringable from the room further up the tower, immediately below the bells. Interestingly, this turned out to have been considered in the 1920s but rejected because of the presence in this room of the motor for the church organ. By the end of 1994, the wheels had been turned on two of the bells so that the ropes - apart from the treble - fell in a circle, and a new band was taught to ring in early 1995. By the spring of 1996, the treble had been re-hung in a different position to perfect the circle. All of this work was carried out by Tommy Morgan, a ringer from St Saviour, Oxton.
Ringing has now continued uninterrupted since 1995. Although some beginners have come and gone, we now have a solid band of eleven, drawn from the congregation. We have received the wholehearted support of clergy and parishioners over the last four years, and for their part in the rebirth of Bidston ringing we are very grateful. Written by Peter Hughes on http://www.wirral8.f9.co.uk/wirral/bidrep.htm dated 1999.
Bidston Observatory
Top left is the lighthouse. Bottom left is Bidston Observatory. Top right is the what was the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory
As you can see from this Proudman
map, the village is now "cut off" from the mainstream of traffic. In
July 2003
I visited Bidston to take some photo's. It is now a through road back up to the
A553.
December 2004, bland nondescript urban stop off, no character at all
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Bidston Station, originally a fair walk from the village, for my small legs anyway! |
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Bidston Station Signal Box, looking towards Leasowe Station on the West Kirby - Liverpool line. The box has now vanished |
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS
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St Oswald - strange to see a
"saint" with a weapon of destruction?
A perfect example of what Mr Faulkner was saying about the
incursion of estates upon the village scene. This was all fields
and old buildings in the 60s, beyond these houses there runs
the M53 motorway, then more houses as the eye approaches
Moreton in the distance at Reeds Lane. Bidston is virtually unrecognisable from my own youth and to see such a magical, time locked, village vanish is painful. A preserved Bidston would have been a jewel in Birkenhead's crown such as the Black Country Museum is in the Midlands or Haworth in Yorkshire. It is not too late, but very nearly.
A Visit to Bidston on 8th July 2003
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The old entrance to Vyner Hall, Bidston |
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Vyner Hall |
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What was once that magically "olde" corner shop is now this "modern" cottage |
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Farm Buildings |
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Village War Memorial |
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Parish Church of St Oswald |
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As long as I can remember, this has stood in its original state!! The cottages were once The Ring o' Bells wayside tavern! |
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Cottages |
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School Lane, leads down to the railway station. Just visible on the right is the old railway station sign |
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Church Farm |
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Cottages |
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Ivy Farm |
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Entrance to St Oswalds |
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View from elevated graveyard looking over School Lane towards Moreton |
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From rear of grounds |
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Bidston Lighthouse on Bidston Hill |
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The following images were all captured on 12th February 2004 on a subsequent visit |
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Looking from Bidston Hill towards the Mersey and the Pier Head in the distance. Taken from the north end of the Hill before the lighthouse. These images will follow in sequence a circular walk from Bidston Village and back along the "lower" western side of the Hill. |
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Approaching the Bidston Lighthouse from the north |
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Bidston Lighthouse |
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I had to climb a tree for this image of the Lighthouse entrance, at my age - phew!! |
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Ah the memories of youth! A collapsed stone wall showing downwards to the western side of the Hill where I would spend many an hour just wandering along the paths and gullies, clearings and ferns. |
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Then we arrive nearly at the apex of the hill, at the Bidston Observatory, well documented above. |
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Heading on past the Observatory, we are now walking towards the Windmill, not yet in view. Note the large rock structures, dominant on the Hill. |
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Crossing the rocks, looking left towards Rock Ferry and Cammell Laird Shipyard |
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Looking down on Birkenhead, the Church of St Jimmy's dominates the foreground |
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The apex of Bidston Hill. I recall, in my youth, this had a glorious brass dial upon the top, giving directions and distance to various landmarks in the north west. Presumably vandalised like everything else these sad days. |
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And the Windmill comes into view as I continue southwards along the spine of Bidston Hill. |
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The windmill itself. |
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A plaque on the side of the mill. 1971 restored, but date vandalised also! See below for description of what is written upon this plaque. After reading this plaque I can only surmise that Birkenhead Council are sadly lacking in their duties and responsibilities which, by law and decree, are bound to provide repair and maintenance of the Hill which, on my visit, appears to be lacking. Edit: Feb 06: this is now in hand and thanks to the Friends of Bidston Hill, things are finally moving towards repair and conservation. |
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On past the mill towards the bridge over the road, far below. The opposite side of the road is another tract of the hill, but not visited on this occasion. |
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the said bridge over the road about 50 - 60 feet below, at a guess. Plans are also in hand to paint this bridge - in rainbow colours!! I am not convinced that's a good move though, too bright maybe? |
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Following on from a long leisurely walk down the west side of the Hill, I emerged back on the lower road near to the village. One of the local residences is depicted here, not sure of its age though. I can remember this being here when a child. Opposite, on the other side of the road, housing has now encroached right to the very edge of the hill. Will it not be long before greed overcomes our birthright and the Council sells off the hill itself for housing? Friends of Bidston Hill say over their dead collective body! |
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Bidston Hall, through the trees. Nearly back in the village now. |
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And the impressive gates to Bidston Hall. |
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Into the village and a shot of Yew Tree Farm cottage which could very well be the same cottage as in the painting at the top of the page. |
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Yew Tree Farm cottage, another view. |
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Buttresses support the building opposite, see also earlier images |
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The same building from further back |
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St Oswald's Church can be seen just beyond the end of the building in question. |
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Ivy Farm Cottage, just a few yards down the road from Yew Tree Farm cottage. |
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Ivy Farm from the elevated walkway up to the Church door. |
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The Lych Gate of St Oswalds. The building centre rear was once the Village shop, ah - memories!! |
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The Church Tower of St Oswalds |
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Part of the graveyard, looking north towards Mockbeggar Wharf and Liverpool Bay |
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Date stone above Church doorway. |
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Stables etc behind School Lane Cottages |
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School Lane cottages. Once The Ring o' Bells Tavern |
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The "buttressed" buildings again. No idea what this was originally called but now Lilac cottage and suchlike. According to the hand drawn map below it could have been Lilac Farm. |
Map of Bidston Village
1. THE TOLL HOUSE 2.
THE TWEED SHOP (Became a grocery shop) 3. THE SWEET SHOP
4. YEW TREE FARM 4A. BARNS 5. W.W.1 WAR MEMORIAL 6. THE PARISH HALL
(long gone)
7. IVY FARM 7A. BARNS 8. CHURCH FARM 8A. BARNS 9. THE VILLAGE SCHOOL
10. HILLCOTE 11. TWO ALMS HOUSES 12. STONE FARM (in earlier days THE RING
0'BELLS)
12A. BARNS 13. 9 & 11 School Lane 14. THE WHITE THATCHED COTTAGE. (demolished
years ago)
15. THE VICARAGE at 19 School Lane 16. BIDSTON STATION 17. SCHOOL LANE
FARM.
17A. BARNS. I believe this is the farm in the painting with the little girl.
It has gone through several renovations since.
18. St. OSWALDS CHURCH 19. THE LILACS FARM 19A. BARNS *** BUNGALOWS.
There may only be two.
My thanks to Mavis (Sutton) Somma (USA) for the above map and details
My thanks also to the "computer" lady in Birkenhead Library Reference Section who was more than helpful to me (12/04/04)
Tam O'Shanter's cottage
Most of the cottages which at one time were scattered about the slopes of the hill have gone. A few, however, remain; and one in particular has an interesting history, and a romantic link with the Scotland of two hundred years ago. Tom o’Shanter’s Cottage was built in 1837 as a small farm, holding about six acres of the surrounding land. Its tenant in 1841 was Richard Leay, a master stonemason and probably a Scotsman. It is likely that Richard Leay carved the stone set in the gable end of the cottage, the stone which gave the cottage its name. The stone depicts a scene front the poem “Tam o’Shanter” by Robert Burns. In the poem, Tam was riding home after a day at market, a little the worse for drink. The night was dark and stormy, and on the way he disturbed a party of witches in the old haunted Kirk of Alloway. The drunken Tam roared out “Weel done, Cutty Sark” at the leader, and was immediately chased by the witches. Tam managed to get across a bridge and the witches, who would not dare cross running water, caught the horse’s tail. Tam escaped, but “Poor Maggie” lost her tail:
Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane of the brig;
There, at them, thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient a tail she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Had upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi’ furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie’s mettle
Ae spring brought aff her master hale,
But left behind her am grey tail:
The cárlin caught her by the rump,
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump
The cottage continued as a small farm for over a hundred years but, after
being burnt down several times in the 1950s,was on the point of being
demolished completely when the Birkenhead Historical Society, backed by
the Council, stepped in with a scheme to restore it. With the help of
local schools, organizations and individuals, Tam O’Shanter’s Cottage has
been completely restored and is now a fully equipped field study centre.
The annual rent on the cottage, one pine cone, is paid over to the
Mayor of Wirral by the trustees each spring as part of a tradition which
goes back to the days when squatters moved into the area. Another Custom,
that of egg rolling, has recently been revived here too. Crowds gather on
Easter Monday to roll gaily coloured hard-boiled eggs down the field in
front of the cottage, the object being to get an egg into a hole cut in
the turf at the foot of the slope. Egg rolling was popular in several
parts of Wirral — the “bonks” of Birkenhead Park and Irby Hill were
popular venues - and had its origin in the early days of Christianity, the
egg being regarded as a symbol of hope and resurrection.
Taken from the book "Portrait of Wirral" By Kenneth Burnley of which I managed to obtain a first edition!! Another excellent book from Ken is "Images of Wirral" which I actually bought from a bookshop in South Carolina via the internet. Some beautiful photographs by Guy Huntingdon. Feb 2004.
Newsflash. Received an email on 20 Jan 05 passing on the following information. My thanks to David Evans. Major concern is plan for sale of Bidston Observatory. I was hoping that with Liverpool being awarded City of Culture 2008,an attempt might have been made by the council to build on this by emphasising the Observatory's maritime links and attempt to get funding to create an annexe to the Maritime Museum in Liverpool or at least create a field work centre. Latest plan is either a hotel or housing.
I was under the impression that the Council took on Bidston Hill on the strict understanding that NO HOMES were built on the hill - mk.
Please Read
Page 2
Sources and reference links
http://www.vwlowen.demon.co.uk/wirral/bidston.htm
Peter Rodger -email 2003
http://www.penmorfa.com/Wrexham/
http://www.pol.ac.uk/
- Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory
http://www.pol.ac.uk/home/insight/historychron.html#TP
- History of Bidston Hill
http://www.fhsc.org.uk/genuki/chs/bidston.htm
http://www.stoswaldsbidston.com/
http://www.tamoshanterfarm.org.uk/events.htm
http://www.hsp.org/
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/m0bnn/Page4.htm - Lighthouse
http://www.friendsofbidstonhill.com
The Books of Kenneth Burnley, who, like me, was born in
1949 and raised in Moreton.
