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'The Thames holds so many of London's secrets'

Victoria Cook
BBC London
London Museum Female mudlark bends down beside the Thames to look at something London Museum
Mudlarking is restricted along the Thames and only 4,000 licences are issued a year to permit the activity

A 16th-century ivory sundial,18th-century false teeth and some medieval spectacles are just some of the items that have been found along the banks of the River Thames by mudlarks in the past 50 years.

Mudlarking was historically a trade of the Victorian poor and has recently become a popular hobby among history lovers.

The items, along with hundreds of others, feature in a new exhibition at the London Museum.

Curator Kate Sumnall said: "One of the key points that I really wanted to convey is that the Thames is a remarkable place, a holder of so many of London's secrets and the past."

London Museum Old brown false teeth London Museum
Museum of London A metal comb, distorted with age, displaying phallic images engraved along the centre Museum of London
Whoever lost their false teeth in the Thames many years ago probably didn't expect them to end up in a museum in 2025
This medieval comb is decorated with four phalluses - their presence is thought to be a visual pun as in Anglo-Norman the word for "little comb" was "penil", which also meant "penis"

Ms Sumnall said she wanted to "acknowledge the role of mudlarks" and their contribution towards archaeology.

"They're recording their finds and they are making a big difference," she said.

The new exhibition explores finds from the Thames foreshore and the role of mudlarks in uncovering thousands of years of human history.

Early records of mudlarking date back to the mid-1800s when London's poorest communities searched the foreshore for bits of metal, rope and coal to make their living.

Today, licensed mudlarks explore the wet clay banks of the Thames to find preserved historical treasures revealed at low tide.

On average, the London Museum's finds liaison officer records about 700 finds a year and identifies around 5,000, with a small number brought into the museum's collection.

London Museum A mudlark holds an old, green poison bottle found on the banks of the Thames. the bottle says "NOT TO BE TAKEN"London Museum
An old poison bottle is just one of about 5,000 objects found each a year by mudlarks

Marie-Louise Plum, a mudlarking enthusiast, said: "The Thames is a really liminal zone where the past and the present meet.

"You get this convergence of different periods of time and place," she said.

Ms Sumnall added: "I want visitors to come away with a sense of wonder, of how we can just explore these little moments of London's past."

Additional reporting by PA Media

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