(2 Apr 2025)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK – 2 April 2025
1. Wide of River Thames, St Paul’s Cathedral dome seen in skyline
2. Wide of person searching shore
3. Various of mudlark (person who searches for historic items on shoreline) digging
4. Pan from sign for exhibition reading (English) “Secrets of the Thames. Mudlarking London’s lost treasures” to wide of exhibition
5. Various of modern replica of head from Hadrian’s statue, 117-138CE, which was found during work on the Thames in the 1800s
6. Case of items found in Thames
7. Small toy cauldron dating from 1400-1600s
8. Various of smashed wine glass, from 1500-1700
9. Various of lead curator Kate Sumnall, looking at large pot on display
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Kate Sumnall, lead curator:
"The Thames is an absolutely remarkable place. It’s drawn people to it for thousands of years, and there’s all those traces of the everyday lives that have just worked their way into the Thames mud. Twice a day that foreshore’s exposed by the tide. And the mudlarks are down there searching through the mud. And they’re finding these historic artefacts and it’s just brilliant. It’s a dynamic place, and there’s always new discoveries coming that give us a new little insight into London’s past."
11. Case of items found linked to crimes
12. Various of sawn-off shotgun found in Thames
13. Various of medals won by tennis player Peter Fleming at Wimbledon that were dumped in Thames and later found by a mudlark
14. Various of leather baby shoe from Victorian era
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Kate Sumnall, lead curator:
"It’s so remarkable when mudlarks bring in these objects that are really fragile or made from leather or would that have just been found in the river. When you think about how busy the river is, the boats and all the traffic and the tides that come and go, that these things have been nestled in the mud, protected from all that rough and tumble. But also that mud, it blocks out the oxygen, which means that when things go in that would normally rot – like the leather I just mentioned – without the oxygen to help that decomposition process, it stays almost in as good condition as when it fell into the river."
16. Case of items found in Thames
17. False teeth dating from 1700s, made of real human teeth
18. Various of bronze sword dating to around 800 BCE, recently found and conserved
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Luisa Duarte, archaeological conservator:
"I knew this object was going to be a delight fairly soon after it was brought to us. I was really keen to clean it. I was begging Kate to let me have a go at it as soon as it came into our collection and was deposited by the mudlark. I was on it straightaway."
20. Various of bronze sword dating to around 800 BCE, recently found and conserved
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Luisa Duarte, archaeological conservator:
"When I finally finished the treatment, it’s just breathtaking. It’s just beautiful. We couldn’t just stop showing it to people. And it has a beautiful line throughout as well. It’s just so, really simple, but so elegant as well. Just beautifully made. It would have been a very impressive object in its time and still is. I guess, even more impressive now."
22. Various of ‘Finders Keepers’, sculpture by Billie Bond, 2025, depicting mudlarks
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Tim Miller, mudlark:
24. Various of rings found in Thames
25. Close of small silver toy trays
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Tim Miller, mudlark:
27. Various of ‘York Water Gate and the Adelphi from the River, by Moonlight’, Henry Pether, around 1850, painting depicting mudlarks
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