Our Winter in London: Won't You Be My Mudlark?

Valentine's Day dawned with a blue sky, so we were off to the banks of the Thames for some mudlarking, looking for historical items on the shore that might be of value or interest. (The photo above shows the area, though it was taken on another day.) According to an article in "The Guardian" and information on mudlarking websites, it is legal to mudlark without a license as long as you don't do any digging and just pick up what is there. (Later, we found out the information is not correct!) If you do discover any significant finds they belong to the British government.

We were fortunate to meet some mums and their children, experienced mudlarkers. The older kids were wizards at finding clay pipes and showed us how to find them. Once you have spotted them, they are obvious. Unfortunately, I did not get photos of them (who were about elementary school age), because those budding archeologists were deeply absorbed in their explorations. One of the mothers was from Vancouver, B.C., so we connected as citizens from different parts of the Pacific Northwest.

We had a good laugh about the fact that when she and her family visited Seattle and took the Underground Tour from Pioneer Square, the guide kept emphasizing, "And this is over 100 years old!" And there we were, on the banks of the Thames, where people have lived since prehistoric times, and where it is not uncommon to find artifacts that are 500 years old, or even older. (Last year a novice mudlarker found a rare Roman oil lamp that dated back to the 4th to 5th Century.)

We found some bits of clay pipes that we've not yet dated, but those pipes were thrown into the Thames for more than 300 years, which explains their proliferation along the shore. Most date from the 16th to the 18th Century. They are basically the cigarette butts of their era, because the pipes were sold stuffed with tobacco for single use. The older pipes can be identified by their smaller bowls. (Note the piece of the bowl that Kevin found in the photo.)

Along with our pipe bits, we found a wooden pipe base, pottery sherds and an old brush, which I think has boar bristles.

We are checking with the Museum of London to make sure we're not carting off anything valuable--but we don't think so. We were also intrigued with the old bone on the left, no doubt the remnant of the time when the butchers along the river threw offal, bones, and all sorts of disgusting materials into the water. (Yes, we washed our hands carefully after handling these.)