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Mudlarking on the Thames River in London became a way of life and profit for some in the nineteenth century, and the river has attracted professionals, amateurs, archaeologists, treasure hunters, historians, museums and even tourists ever since. In fact, the ancient channel has even become somewhat of a tourist attraction in the last few decades.
According to a feature story recently written by Lara Maiklam for The Guardian, entitled, "London's History in Mud: The Woman Collecting What the Thames Washed Up, "For thousands of years human beings have been losing their possessions and dumping their rubbish in the Thames. I am not an archaeologist or even a treasure hunter, obsessively searching for gold or coins with a metal detector (although I have found both without one). I am a seeker and collector of pieces of human history. My finds sometime amount to no more than a button, a broken clay pipe or a sherd of pottery, but each one is a precious window into past lives lived on and around London's famous river, which is considered the world's longest archaeology site today."
However, the finds can be thrilling, representing a few thousand years of human settlement in England. But the Port of London Authority does require a permit for such activity, including metal detecting, digging or scraping. The standard permit allows digging to a depth of 7.5 centimeters, and a mudlark permit allows digging to a depth of 1.2 meters (the mudlark permit is only issued to members of the Thames Mudlark Society).
Certain artifacts must also be reported; "You must report any objects of archaeological interest to the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liason Officer at the Museum of London."
But as the tide swells and regresses twice a day, rising as much as 23 feet, so do the artifacts hidden beneath the muddy surface - and with each low tide comes the opportunity that a hidden artifact was uncovered during the previous high tide. The northern bank is also the best area to search since it bears more history than the southern bank.
The possibilities are really endless; for instance, I was recently told that entirely intact seventeenth and eighteenth slipware dishes, among other survivors have been recovered in recent memory at low tide on the foreshore, and many of these discoveries are now cherished by local collectors and mudlarkers.
Nevertheless, while shopping the antiques fields in Brimfield, Massachusetts last week, I met up with Oliver Garland, an antiques dealer from London and Falmouth, Massachusetts. He recently returned after spending sometime in London this summer, and he brought back a collection of pottery sherds that had been recovered by a mudlarker on the Thames foreshore. This collection of ceramics really represents the diversity that can be found in the artifacts along the Thames, where these particular objects date from the Medieval Period through the 1600s and 1700s.
Some of these sherds also represent artifacts found on Colonial archaeology sites in America, seeing that some of this production was shipped to the colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
I also want to note that it is rather interesting to see some of the daily or weekly finds found by mudlarkers on the foreshore of the Thames; some of these people can be found by searching Facebook and Instagram - although, my personal favorite is Lara Maiklam's account under the name "london.mudlark."
Pottery Sherds Recovered on the Thames Foreshore in London
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Pottery Sherds Recovered at Low Tide from the Thames Foreshore in London
The Artifacts Date from the Medieval Period to the 17th/18th Century
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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