<< Other Photo Pages >> Bidston Hill Rock Carvings - Carving in England in Merseyside
Submitted by Sunny100 on Thursday, 13 March 2014 Page Views: 24308
Multi-periodSite Name: Bidston Hill Rock Carvings Alternative Name: The Bidston Sun GoddessCountry: England County: Merseyside Type: Carving
Nearest Town: Birkenhead Nearest Village: Bidston
Map Ref: SJ288900
Latitude: 53.402000N Longitude: 3.072364W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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Hogeybare visited on 21st Oct 2016 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Two sets of carvings, one of Goddess and Horse near the mill circles to the southeren end of the raised heathland, and pointing goddess on the stone surface below the observatory steps.
On a long flat sandstone outcrop just north east of the observatory is a four and half foot long carving of a sun goddess with outstretched arms. The head of the goddess faces the direction to where the sun sets on Midsummer's day. Also, there is a carving of a cat-headed Moon goddess with a moon at her feet. These carvings are thought to have been done by Viking settlers in the area - probably the 9th-10th century AD. However, one source put the age of the carvings as being Gallo-Roman from the 2nd century AD.
A short distance away another stone outcrop north of the observatory has the figure of a horses head carved onto it. On its neck there is a carved sun symbol. However, the age of this rock carving is uncertain -some historians think it could be more recent - perhaps the 18th century ? the sun symbol may be older. There is a stone with a hollow cut into it that collects rain water just beyond Bidston Hill; this however is again fairly recent - being used for the horrid sport of cock fighting.
Bidston Hill is associated with Arthurian legend. It is thought that Sir Gawain brought the Holy Grail with him when he travelled this way, and there are connections here with St Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus' uncle.
Note: Moon Goddess carving rediscovered by a local history group
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