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In Victorian London, ‘mudlarks’ were among the poorest of society, eking out a precarious existence by scavenging the banks of the Thames for scraps of metal, rope, coal, or anything else that they could sell. Many of these individuals were children, risking dangerous conditions to help support their families. Today, however, mudlarking is a licensed hobby for heritage enthusiasts who scour the foreshore at low tide, hoping to find artefacts that have been preserved by their waterlogged surroundings.
Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London’s lost treasures is the UK’s first major exhibition devoted to these groups, tracing individual stories and revealing how their discoveries have helped to illuminate 10,000 years of human history beside the river. Displays of over 350 mudlarked items highlight the prehistoric communities who hunted and settled beside the Thames thousands of years ago; the foundation of Roman Londinium, the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, and the onslaught of Viking raids; and how commerce, exploration, and exploitation helped to forge London into the diverse and globally influential metropolis that we know today.
Some of the objects are household names – among them the astonishing Iron Age Battersea Shield and the Waterloo Helmet, both of which have been loaned to the exhibition by the British Museum – but no less significant are the many everyday items which offer intimate insights into the experiences of long-vanished individuals. The themes that they represent – among them food, clothing, toys, crime, health, travel, work, and how countless generations of Londoners have expressed romantic desires and religious beliefs – are powerfully relatable.
Roman hairpins, a Viking Age blade bearing the name of its owner, medieval spectacles, a set of 18th-century dentures, and a tiny shoe perhaps kicked off by a Victorian baby offer tangible traces of real people. Meanwhile, London’s long and varied religious history is reflected by items including a Bronze Age sword that may have been a votive offering, Roman figurines depicting various deities, a Thor’s hammer pendant, medieval pilgrim badges, and devotional objects belonging to the city’s more recent Hindu and Buddhist communities.
Subsequent sections emphasise the experiences of the mudlarks themselves, and the work of local Finds Liaison Officers to record their discoveries. Above all, the way that the exhibition arranges objects by theme rather than by historical period is very effective: as you encounter artefacts that reflect the same ideas occurring again and again over the course of many centuries, it gives a pleasing sense of continuity in the human experience, like the regular rise and fall of the tidal Thames.
Further information: Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London’s lost treasures is at London Museum Docklands until 1 March 2026. See http://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/secrets-thames for more details. All mudlarks on the River Thames must have a valid permit from the Port of London Authority (http://www.pla.co.uk/thames-foreshore-permits), and all finds 300 years old or more must be reported to the Finds Liaison Officer at London Museum (https://finds.org.uk/contacts).
Images: © London Museum
