Kitchen Decorations

• The moulding in the kitchen is geometrical and shaped like a roset. It is octagonal and consists of a center star, with a middle ring of triangular shapes, surrounded by a ring of leave-shapes. The decoration has neo-gothical and orientalist connotations.

• Their symmetry might allude to the mathematical work being done in the institute. It may relate to or incorporate the contemporary eight-pointed compass rose used to illustrate the eight principal winds, and/or the modern compass points.

• Shapes similar to this are to be found throughout the building.

Plaster moulding ceiling communal kitchen Bidston Observatory, 2021

• The design of the stone carvings around the year 1866 which can be found above the South entrance looks like a cogged wheel, celebrating late nineteenth century industrialism. A sign of the enthusiasm for the spirit of progress and arriving modernisms.

Arch over door south entrance