“You can find a clay tobacco pipe quite easily. But you just know that the last person to touch that was 100, 200 years ago…” Curator Kate Sumnall is explaining something of the appeal of mudlarking, combing the Thames foreshore for historical items. Now, 350 treasures – some shown here – are being brought together in an exhibition at London Museum. Though mudlarking began as a necessity, as people salvaged materials from the busy port to make money, in more recent decades it’s become a popular hobby.
In fact, London mudlarking is unique. It’s a tidal river, so its foreshore is exposed at low tide, while the foreshore’s composition is also stable enough to be walked on. It’s also got conditions that help preserve materials that don’t survive in other…
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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025