Bidston

"BIDSTON, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of Wirrall, in the county palatine of Chester, 3 miles to the W. of Birkenhead, its post town. It is situated on a tongue of land between the rivers Mersey and Dee, and includes the townships of Bidston-cum-Ford, Claughton-cum-Grange, Moreton-cum-Lingham, and Saughall-Massey. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Chester, value £150, in the patronage of the bishop. There is a small endowed school with an income of £10 per annum, and other charities which produce about £5 a year. On Bidston Hill, which is about 250 feet high, commanding an extensive prospect over the Irish Sea, Liverpool, and the estuaries of Mersey and Dee, is a lighthouse, which was built in 1762, and now belongs to the Mersey Dock and Harbour Board, Liverpool. It is of stone, 50 feet in height, with a fixed light visible 23 miles off. On the same hill is a telegraph station, one in a chain of 70 miles long, communicating between Liverpool and Holyhead. In the township of Claughton there is a district church called Christ Church, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of trustees. The Birkenhead Commissioners are now constructing a cemetery in this township, with chapels for Church of England, Roman Catholics, and Dissenters; and also water-works, with water-tower, &c., for the supply of Birkenhead. In the village of Moreton there is a school, erected by subscription in 1861, and intended for the younger children of the neighbourhood."