Mudlarking exhibition featuring finds from River Thames to open in London

A new mudlarking exhibition featuring historical objects found in the River Thames is opening in London.

London Museum Docklands will showcase Secrets Of The Thames: Mudlarking London’s Lost Treasures, featuring rare items such as a Tudor headdress and a Viking era dagger.

The exhibition which opens on Friday explores finds from the Thames foreshore and the role of mudlarks in uncovering thousands of years of human history.

Mudlarking, which was historically a trade of the Victorian poor, has in recent years become a popular hobby among history lovers.

Marie-Louise Plum, a mudlarking enthusiast, told the PA news agency: “The Thames is a really liminal zone where the past and the present meet, you get this convergence of different periods of time and place.

“The exhibition draws together over 50 years of mudlarking.

“They’ve got the Waterloo helmet and the Battersea shield on loan, which was found in the Victorian era, right up to items found in the present day.”

Kate Sumnall, curator at London Museum, said the exhibition is inspired by both the finds from the Thames foreshore and the mudlarks themselves.

“One of the key points that I really wanted to convey in this exhibition is that the Thames is a remarkable place, a holder of so many of London’s secrets and the past,” she said.

“I wanted to acknowledge the role of mudlarks and their contribution towards archaeology in that they are monitoring, they’re recording their finds and they are making a big difference.

“I want visitors to come away with a sense of wonder, of how we can just explore these little moments of London’s past.”

The exhibition features more than 350 mudlarked objects, including a 16th century ivory sundial, and other curiosities include clay pipes, 18th century false teeth, medieval spectacles and 16th century wig curlers.

Visitors can also gain insights from mudlarks themselves and discover how finds are recorded and researched in a behind-the-scenes experience.

Early records of mudlarking date back to the mid-1800s when London’s poorest communities searched the foreshore for bits of metal, rope and coal to make their living.

Today, licensed mudlarks explore the wet clay banks of the Thames to find preserved historical treasures revealed at low tide.

The hobby has grown in popularity in recent years, with the Port of London Authority (PLA) noting a significant increase in applications for licences, particularly since 2020.

On average, the London Museum’s Finds Liaison Officer records around 700 finds per year and identifies around 5,000, with a small number acquired into the museum’s collection.

Secrets Of The Thames: Mudlarking London’s Lost Treasures will run from April 4 2025 to March 1 2026.