Tales from the tide: Rachel Blake reviews 'Secrets of the Thames'
Modern-day mudlark: fishing out treasures from the exposed riverbed | Image: © London Museum
3 min read
Navigate your way to the London Museum Docklands to enjoy these remarkable treasures once lost to the Thames but restored to us by modern-day mudlarks
Without the River Thames, we would not have London as our capital. Winding its way through the city, the Thames has brought people, goods and trade together for millennia. It is the source of our economic and cultural history; it links our political and commercial centres and connects London’s villages and neighbourhoods. For centuries its inhabitants, many of whom travelled across the world to become Londoners, have lost or shared their belongings in the Thames. For hundreds of years, maybe longer, ‘mudlarks’ have been drawn to the water’s edge, looking for bits and pieces which can be sold. Today, this tradition lives on with modern-day mudlarks connecting with London’s history on the river foreshore, finding objects that are hundreds or thousands of years old.
Mid-15th-century gold ring: Inscribed pour amor say donne: ‘for love I am given’
Image: © London Museum
The London Museum Docklands has just opened the first major exhibition of treasures which had been lost to the Thames – but have now been restored to us by mudlarks. It brings together masterful storytelling with ancient objects and contemporary art.
The exhibition opens with the story of the tides of the Thames. “Twice a day, London’s River Thames rises and falls with the everchanging tide. For a short period of time, part of the riverbed is exposed. Lying amongst the mud and stones are the fragments of a busy city life, from the present day right back to ancient times.”
It brings together masterful storytelling with ancient objects and contemporary art
Gazing at maps of London is a perfect bank holiday activity for me and the museum did not disappoint. We looked at some of the earliest plans of London, tracing our own regular journeys through the City and Westminster and navigating the route of the Thames past and present.
1500s–1600s: The neck of stoneware ‘Bartmann’ bottle
Image: © Alessio Checconi-London Museum
We learn about the original mudlarks who turned to the Thames for a living. Their lives were determined by the flow of the tides and their ability to find objects to sell – a precarious living which left them struggling to support themselves. The goods that they found provide many of the items on display and link them to the objects now found by today’s mudlarks including ancient shields, dinner plates, children’s shoes, sparkling jewellery – each telling its own story.
Listening to modern-day mudlarks through recorded interviews, we learn about their connection to the Thames through its hidden treasures and the peace and reflection that it brings. They share with us their experiences of their first visits to the river, their finds and the support mudlarks bring each other identifying finds and recommending different spots along the shore to mudlark.
At the close of the exhibition, we arrive at an installation about the Moon, a final reminder of the power of the Thames’ tides, creating a further space to learn about mudlarks and their treasures.
While I would have loved to discover more about mudlarks past and present, this exhibition tells these London stories beautifully. Whether you want to learn about London’s trades or teeth, romances or rebels, fashions or feasts, the exhibition is well worth a visit.
Rachel Blake is Labour MP for Cities of London and Westminster
Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London’s Lost Treasures
Curated by: Kate Sumnall
Venue: London Museum Docklands, West India Quay – until 1 March 2026
