Free London | Mudlarking

Free London | Mudlarking

"A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river-mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries." - thanks wikipedia 

An activity unique to London and costs (almost) nothing...?

This is not a drill.

When it comes to London, life can be surprisingly expensive. In the first few months I found even the thought of leaving my house depressing. Having a world of sights and activities outside my front door was overwhelming. Not only was the destination costly, but the transport, along with a whole myriad of other hidden expenses, can leave you feeling a little like Esther Greenwood starving in front of the fig tree; so much choice that the only decision I could make was to do nothing. If you're new to London you might know what I'm talking about. Don't worry, you aren't the only one feeling like this.

I'm being a little dramatic, but the issue did push me to look for some cheaper ways to enjoy this beautiful city. Mudlarking is one of London's best and most affordable little secrets. The river Thames runs right through the middle of London, making it the most accessible point from any location, all you need are your eyes, some old shoes and a plastic bag, and you get to take home real historical artefacts. 

Luckily for me I live very close to the river, so the transport costs are eliminated. Different parts of the Thames naturally yield different types of objects. By walking the Thames Path, biking or using the Jubilee Line Tube you can get to some good spots i.e. the more historical the area the better. My usual spots are around the Greenwich Peninsula and in front of the Old Royal Navy College. Mudlarkers don't usually give away the good locations so lets keep that a secret among friends…

The best time to go is when the tide is going out or has already been out for maybe an hour. Sometimes, depending on the moon, the tide can recede a lot further than normal, so check the tide forecasts for this. The softest and darkest mud seems to hold the most for me. Although this is the type that will swallow your shoes and get you completely filthy and smelling funky. Use the rocks and bits of wood around you to talk on, walk slowly and don't go out too far. The best thing to do is take a friend the first few times you go in case anything goes wrong.

There are laws around this sort of 'digging' which can change quite frequently, for example the depth you are aloud to lark about in before you need a permit is only a few millimetres, a centimetre at most. I don't know the laws as well as I should, but to protect myself - and my clothes - I never use tools to dig meaning I can’t dig down too far, I wear gloves, and I only try to extract things that I can see from the surface. Pretty straight forward. If you want to do some serious digging or use a metal detector i.e. mudlark legally, you need to have a permit, which you can read up on here :

https://www.pla.co.uk/Environment/Thames-foreshore-access-including-metal-detecting-searching-and-digging

It may take some time to be able to spot something in all the mud and stones. I like to listen to music and give myself about 15 minutes to let my eyes adjust. Wandering around aimlessly where the rocks end and the mud begins (aka the tide line) is a good place to start. After that things start jumping out at you.

Some things are too big to carry home... 

I mainly find pottery shards. My favourite ones usually have blue patterns but you'd be surprised at how many patterns and times periods these fragments date from; all the way from Greco-Roman, to tudor, to the 1970s, or something thrown away last week. There is so much to collect that I usually only bring one bag with me. It is easy to get carried away and want to bring the whole beach home with you. A self-proclaimed hoarder, I have had to become quite selective...

The thought of having to clean and store everything helps with this!

^ Everything drying here was from one lark I did for this blog post.

London In Fragments by Ted Sandling is a brilliant book to have as it provides inspiration as well as information about the origins of different pottery styles. Ted's collection holds a lot of interesting and unique items which helps when I'm trying to place an object. Also the Facebook group London Mudlark is great, there are many different contributors to the site and there is always new items being discovered and shared. They also do 'armchair mudlarking' where they show you a patch of beach with some finds hidden in it, similar to one of those mind-bender puzzles. Good for helping to train your eyes.

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Here are a few of the best bits from my collection.

^ Pottery with text

^ Willow Pattern and other blues and browns 

 Clay Pipes 

If you want to try Mudlarking but are unsure if it's worth getting your shoes muddy for, the museum of London has a display specifically for items found by Mudlarkers in the thames. 

Thank you for reading, I hope I have inspired you to try Mudlarking for yourself, or at least given you an option for a cheap day in London.

G x