Chirotherium print

The print of a reptile called Chirotherium Kaupii (which preceded the dinosaurs).

The sign accompanying the copy on display in the village reads 'On the sandstone slab is the raised fossil footprint of a Chirotherium Kaupii, an early type of dinosaur'. The name means Hand Beast, so named after its footprint's remarkable resemblance to the hands of apes, bears and humans.

The footprint dates from the Triassic period (200-250 million years BC). It was found in 1842 in the Windmill Quarry, not far from this present location, one of the many Lymm quarries which were extensively worked between the 1840s and 1890s. 'Lymm was a prolific source of footprints, examples of which can be found in museums at Warrington, Liverpool and Manchester.

The installation of the frame and stone was funded by Lymm Jubilee WI as a gift to the village to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Institute's founding in 1965'.

A model of the Chirotherium can be seen at Lymm Heritage Centre.

Text by Roger Hannam