BIDSTONE, a parish in the lower division of the
hundred of WIRRALL, county palatine of CHESTER,
comprising the chapelry of Birkenhead,.and the town-
ships of Bidstone with Ford, Claughton with Grange,
-Moreton, and Saughall-Massey, and containing 1014
inhabitants, of which number, 257' are in the township of
Bidstone with Ford, 9 miles (N.) from Great Neston.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Chester, endowed with £200 and £35
per annum private benefaction, £200 royal bounty, and
£1300 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of
the Bishop of Chester. A lighthouse, standing on an
elevated site in this township, was purchased by the
corporation of Liverpool, under an act obtained in
1762, and is supported by a duty levied on all vessels
sailing to or from that port. A school is endowed
with £8 per annum, and a house and garden for the
master.