Prehistoric EXPLORE SEFTON’S NATURAL COAST FootPrints Find the footprints of the ancestors and take a glimpse into prehistoric Britain At ForMBY GUIDE TO FORMBY POINT SHOWING THE FOOTPRINT LOCATIONS Victoria Road Lifeboat Road SAFETY ON THE BEACH By Car The public car park at Lifeboat Road (L37 2EJ - charges apply) and the National Trust car park (L37 1LJ - FREE for NT Members, otherwise charges apply) at Victoria Road offer direct access through the dunes to Formby Beach. By Public Transport There are frequent trains to Freshfield Station, Formby, from where you can walk down Victoria Road to the beach, and to Formby Station, where you can walk down Kirklake Road to access Formby Beach at Lifeboat Road. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means or stored in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. No liability can be accepted for any inaccuracies or omissions. Written by Alison Burns, BA (Hons) Archaeology Designed and produced by ABC Design, www.abcdesignuk.com The bands of sediment are fairly close to the dunes but the tide could rapidly come in behind you filling the channels along the beach and leave you stranded. The best time to visit is when the tide is at least half way out or at low tide. Check the tide times by visiting www.tidetimes.org.uk/formby-tide-times Phone reception on the beach is poor or not available at all. Make sure someone knows where you are and when to expect your return. Best of all, go with someone to share the fun. Human footprints For more information on the Sefton Landscape Partnership Scheme please call 0151 934 2964 email: [email protected] or visit www.visitsouthport.com/seftons-natural-coast www.facebook.com/seftoncoast @theseftoncoast GETTING ABOUT LeGAcY The muddy beds at Formby Point contain a rare and precious record of the past. Tracing the footprints offers us a unique way of engaging with the people and animals that formed them as they went about their daily life over 4,000 years ago. HOW THE FOOTPRINTS WERE FORMED and sealed with more mud. As the mud accumulated and the beach edge changed, the prints were buried and have remained so for thousands of years. In recent years, the sea has started to erode Formby Point. Sometimes, the force of the sea strips the sand from the mud, which is too solid to be easily lifted. Occasionally, the sand is pulled from the dunes or from the lower areas of the beach, to cover the outcrops of mud. This means that we cannot be certain from day to day whether the outcrops containing the footprints will be visible but, when the mud is exposed, Formby's ancient footprints can offer a unique glimpse into the prehistoric life of the Sefton Coast. The outcrops of sediment closest to the dunes are the newest and are about 4,000 years old. The furthest out to sea are the oldest and are about 7,000 years old. Their formation is outlined below; About 12,000 years ago the last Ice Age ended. The ice sheets that had covered the northern half of Britain began to melt, leading to massive rises in sea level. About 9,000 years ago, a huge sandbar formed off the present coast of Formby, protecting the area from the sea and creating a lagoon within it. Fast-flowing streams running out to sea dumped large amounts of mud into the lagoon, forming a salt-marsh. Reeds colonised the mud, with alder and oak trees on land, forming a fringe to the lagoon. Many animals and people walked through the reeds. In the spring and summer, their footprints were baked hard in the mud, then filled with sand DID YOU KNOW? The Alder roots in the sediment appear to be growing up out of the mud. In fact they grew down into it. The Alder roots date from around 2,000 BC, but the mud into which they grew was considerably older. Formby’s sediment beds host some of the finest prehistoric footprints discovered in the world. PREHISTORIC TIMELINE 10,000 BC 9,000 BC 8,000 BC 7,000 BC 6,000 BC 5,000 BC 4,000 BC 3,000 BC 2,000 BC 1,000 BC 0 BC Ice Age Ends Beginning of the Mesolithic Age in Britain (Hunter-gatherer) Sandbar forms and reed beds grow House structures on the River Alt at Lunt First footprints form in the sediment Beginning of the Neolithic Age in Britain (Farming) Beginning of the Iron Age 3,000 - 2,400 BC Stonehenge Footprints on the beach end at the beginning of the Bronze Age A guided walk Photographing the prints Aurochs print Layers of mud Red Deer print Prehistoric