Millom Footprints
For many years, locals in Millom have been aware of footprints in the clay near Millom Mains but it was only in 2017 that local historian, Duane Farren, identified them as ancient footprints.
Duane notes in his diary, 6th January, 2017: Animal footprints - finding animal bones along the Mains shoreline.
Could they be old? 7th January: More animal bones turning up. Also many animal footprints are starting to show
up on the Duddon foreshore. After seeking advice from archaeologists it was confirmed Duane had discovered ancient tracks that offered insights into Millom's prehistoric inhabitants going back to the mesolithic period.
From that moment on, Duane began to visit Millom Mains regularly to monitor and keep a photographic record of the numerous human and animal footprints that turned up after high tides. He regularly took groups of people down to the Mains to show them the footprints. He did this until his untimely death in March 2025.
The clay layers found on the shoreline around the Duddon Estuary would once have looked very different. The sea
level would have been lower and the whole area would have been a mix of peat bogs, estuarine silts, reedbeds and
woodland. A perfect environment for prehistoric people to find food and other resources but it was also perfect
for preserving their footprints and those of the animals they hunted.
People and animals walked through the soft wet silts of the floodplain leaving footprints. These then had time to dry
and harden before a new layer of mud was deposited. The layers built up over time protecting the footprints until
recent coastal erosion washed the covering away.
These features are exposed through tidal processes and storms, sometimes only for a matter of hours before the next
tide removes all evidence that they were there. Duane's photographic records are, therefore, crucial in providing
evidence of the inhabitants of Millom from ancient times. Duane took hundreds of photographs of the human footprints as well as animal footprints including aurochs - a huge cow that became extinct in Britain in the Bronze Age - wild boar, red deer, roe deer, and birds.
Millom and District Local History Society were originally loaned around 170 prints which we scanned and put up here:
BUT...
It gets better. His wife, Sharon, managed to find two memory sticks with much, much, better quality photographs and many more. These have now been analysed and sorted into files. They cover 2017 (none for July and December) and January, March, May and June 2018. It seems highly likely there will be (or would have been) many more memory sticks with photographs from the following years up to 2025. Unfortunately, at this point in time, these have not surfaced. Here are the ones that have:
PLEASE: DO NOT WALK ON THE MUD FLATS OR LET YOUR DOG WALK ON THEM AS THIS WILL SERIOUSLY DAMAGE ANY EVIDENCE THERE IS. THANK YOU.
NEXT STEPS
We are producing a book, The Prehistoric Footprints of Millom, which will be dedicated to Duane and, hopefuly, be published early in 2026.
Duane also collected lots of twine he found near the footprints and always wanted some to be radio carbon dated. The History Society have sent samples off for an expert opinion - they have suggested radio carbon dating but this is very expensive - we are having one strand dated and if it comes back early will look into acquring funding for the other nine strands to be dated (plus a hazel nut).
We are also looking into the possibility of working with other agencies to continue Duane's work by setting up a monitoring and visitor programme. It would be wonderful if a university got involved.
FURTHER INFORMATION
In September 2022 the History Society held an event, Millom in Prehistoric Times. Duane spoke at the event, here is his powerpoint. Two of the other speakers were Claire Bradshaw of the Morecambe Bay Partnership who spoke about Neolithic and Bronze Age Millom. and Dr. Alison Burns who spoke about Prehistoric Coastal Footprints - Formby and other Sites.
Dr. Burns is now retired but is an expert on ancient footprints, she says Duane's photos are "a fantastic record." Here is a link to Dr Burns giving a talk on Footprints at FormbyAnd here is a link to our Prehistory page in Millom Through Time.
MILLOM AND DISTRICT PREHISTORIC PAST
We have just ordered a third reprint of the above book which will be obtainable from Sutton's Bookshop, Ulverston - 01229 588858 or Millom Heritage and Arts Centre - 01229 772555 or from Holy Trinity Church, Millom.