Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames

Product Information

It is tremendously important that mudlarks report their finds to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in accordance with the terms of their licence, no matter how trivial or mundane they seem,” said Stuart Wyatt, Finds Liaison Officer for the London area, who assesses and records the artefacts found by mudlarks for the PAS. Mudlarking is the act of searching or scavenging in the river mud at low tide seeking items of value. Modern mudlarks forage in the mud in search of items from history - regardless of value - and it's amazing what they find. I saw the River Thames in person for the first time in 2012 but it's always been fascinating to me as a repository of history. Thank you for reading my post on mudlarking on the Thames. Some items mudlarks have found on the river Thames include clay pipes, roof tiles, Roman coins, oyster shells, animal bones, pieces of coal, clay pipe stems, glass beads, a piece of Roman pottery, clay tobacco pipes, Venetian glass chevron beads, and every day objects like thimbles. Want to try London’s coolest new hobby? Mudlarking is the quirky riverside activity that Londoners will love – provided you don’t mind getting a little muddy. Apparently Tower Beach was a great success and in 1935 approximately 100,000 people came to 'holiday' beside the Thames. What a sight this must have been.

This is a wonderful idea since modern day scavenging isn’t for coal, food or items just washed into the river but a history lesson and more akin to river archaeology. It was a fairly dangerous occupation then, with broken glass, raw sewage and even the corpses of animals or humans known to wash up. The book is arranged geographically, moving west to east along the Thames. I’m not familiar enough with London for this progression to have meant much to me, so by just past the halfway point the chapters felt like “here’s where I went and here’s some things I found” and “here’s somewhere else I went and some other things I found.” I’m not sure how the structure could have been more successful: perhaps each chapter could have focused on a different time period or category of finds? All the same, this is a fascinating way of bringing history to life and imagining what everyday existence was like for Londoners across the centuries. (If only there were photographs of Maiklem’s collection!) A mudlark permits allows you to dig to a depth of 1.2m (3 feet 11 inches), but no tools other than hand tools can be used. It also gives you access to additional areas that a standard permit doesn’t cover.If you have a standard permit, there are only certain spots on the Thames where you can go mudlarking. There is an interactive map which shows where digging is allowed. I found myself feeling that although Mudlarking would perhaps not be for me, I recognised its charms and if I was to don a pair of wellies it would be to spend sometime watching Lara at work and sharing at firsthand the all consuming love she has for this activity. If the object is believed to be of historical interest, it must be reported to Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer at the Museum of London, within one month of being found. However she makes mention several times throughout the book that she won't share specific locations. By omitting them the reader can join the dots on their own (or not), but openly stating she won't share the locations made her seem arrogant in my view. I'm amazed that so much 'stuff' is still being found although Maiklem explains how building, erosion etc can constantly reveal new treasures.

Thirdly, walking on the foreshore of the Thames is dangerous. Permit holders are warned of the hazards of going down to the river bank, and advised to go in groups. This was the opening book for me for our NI 2020/2021 Book Voyage. Thanks to our NI friend, Susan, who says to us "I hope everyone enjoys this look at London's past" - I did! What a wonderfully personal choice! As it is a non-fiction historical journey, I read it while reading other books hence the length of time it took me to finish it. Participants are advised to wear sensible footwear and gloves, carry a mobile phone and not go alone. It is a real pleasure to read. In all these endeavours and historical asides she reveals more of herself and her journey into collecting things the river offers.Secondly, by requiring a permit it protects the wildlife that live near the river as it reduces the number of people walking on the Thames foreshore. If too many people are walking on the riverbed at low tide it may disturb birds and animals that are nesting or feeding by the river. I've had a passing interest in mudlarking and toshing that I think I can attribute to Joan Aiken's Midnight Is A Place, which I read when I was about ten. But I honestly thought it was something that happened in, like, the Victorian era because having seen the state of the Thames (and the Yarra, tbh), I can't really imagine anyone voluntarily searching for lost treasures in the tidal mud flats of the riverbank. But turns out there's a thriving community!

Author Lara Maiklem is a proud London mudlark and shares her finds in Mudlarking - Lost and Found on the River Thames. First, some interesting facts about the Thames from the book. MUDLARKS: Treasures from the Thames by Jason Sandy is a great book if you are new to mudlarking. It shows the findings of 80 different mudlarks, and contains lots of photographs and information about the history of London.So wonderfully crafted and written, it covers the range of this peculiar pastime along the Thames from West to East. That is from Tidal Head to Estuary.

Even a cursory glance at the river will reveal broken pottery pieces, shards of glass and twisted pieces of metal, and mudlarks have discovered everything from woolly mammoth teeth to Roman lamps to Tudor rings. In summary, I adored learning more about the history of the River Thames, I was gripped by every item the author discovered and researched but I could happily have done without the memoir aspect with no sense of loss at all. I feel my knowledge of the history of London has been deepened and enlarged by her comments on these objects, the riverside locations and ultimately the Thames itself. In fact, the educational side, of sharing the stories behind their found items, is important to many members of the community.

What makes this book so special is Lara’s writing and insights. She has that wonderful ability to let her mind wander, way beyond the present, and we follow in her imagination the provenance of her finds. Making up scenarios for how the objects came to be in the river; they have been preserved by the mud and spotted on the foreshore. My story was similar. Always tempted to play the archaeologist as a child, I dreamed of striking it rich by finding King John’s lost golden treasure that sank in a river. One day, long after I should have given up such fancies, I read about mudlarking online. I ran down to the Thames and pulled out my first treasure: a broken clay pipe last smoked by someone in the 18th Century. Now I can be found under London Bridge looking for Roman pottery; in Rotherhithe searching for industrial relics; and around Putney for prehistory. The joy of mudlarking is that you never know what might turn up or where. Items also often end up on display to the public, whether as part of a permanent or temporary exhibits. The morbid part of me especially enjoyed hearing of Maiklem’s encounters with human remains -both modern and ancient - and following her speculations as to the life they may have led. I’m still haunted by her description of Amy Johnson’s tragic end – and my imagination was particularly captured by the fact that although her chequebook, logbook and travel bag were retrieved, her body was never found…