In 1851, in his book London Labour and the London Poor, Henry Mayhew described mudlarks as “boys and girls, varying in age from eight to fourteen or fifteen; with some persons of more advanced years. For the most part they are ragged, and in a very filthy state, and are a peculiar class, confined to the river.”

Men and woman getting dirty

Why were these people confined to the river? Because they survived by scavenging in the mud of the Thames looking for bits and bobs to sell. Today, you won’t find waifs and strays getting dirty, but rather grown men and women. And while the objective is the same – to unearth unusual jetsam and flotsam from the river – the tools used now are very different.

The river’s thick, stinky mud is low in oxygen, which makes it ideal for preserving precious objects.

Dressed in overalls and wellington boots, these modern day mudlarks scan the shores at low tide, armed with metal detectors.

Treasure river

Many belong to the Society of Thames Mud-larks and Antiquarians, a secretive bunch of serious searchers who shy away from publicity and like to keep their membership limited. This might have something to do with their desire to keep the Thames treasures to themselves. The river’s thick, stinky mud is low in oxygen, which makes it ideal for preserving precious objects.

Mess about in the mud

Fortunately you don’t need to be member of the society to get down and dirty. The Port of London Authority owns the riverbed of the Thames up to the mean high-water mark, and anybody is allowed to beach comb on the shores. However, if you want to dig or use a metal detector, you need a license, which costs just £9 for the year. If the idea of paying to mess about in mud seems strange, you wait until you pluck your first treasure from the Thames’s grasp. No matter whether it’s a bit of a bike or a Roman coin, I guarantee you’ll be stuck on mudlarking.