Mystery
The Sun Goddess
Her feet point to the rising sun.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Faint figures cut into flat sandstone on a heath
- Legend from
- Friends of Bidston Hill; local tradition
- Best time
- Midsummer dawn
- Tone
- Mysterious
Carved into the hilltop rock, a goddess lies with her feet towards the rising sun.
On flat rock north-east of Bidston Observatory is a carving about four and a half feet long, known as the Sun Goddess. It is cut in a human, cross-like shape, with a sun-ray design at its feet. The Friends of Bidston Hill say the feet point roughly towards the midsummer sunrise. They believe the carvings are Norse Irish, possibly of the late 9th century. Wikipedia gives around 1000 AD. If that is right, the friends say the figures would be Sunna, the sun, and her brother Mani, the moon, who has a smaller carving nearby. Near the Observatory there is also an ancient carving of a horse.