There has been a lighthouse on Bidston Hill since about 1771, when the first Bidston Lighthouse was built, further from the sea it lit than any other lighthouse in the world. The lamp room featured a massive parabolic reflector, 12 feet in diameter, developed at the Bidston Signals Station by William Hutchinson, Liverpool Harbour Master and one-time privateer.
The present Bidston Lighthouse and Cottages were built by Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in 1873, and operated until 1913. The building is Grade-II listed and privately owned.