Eight Highlights Of The Secrets Of The Thames Mudlarking Exhibition

The Museum of London Docklands has a new exhibition (until 1st March 2026) called Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London’s Lost Treasures. It is the UK’s first major exhibition about mudlarking and looks at lots of the amazing items that have been found on the foreshore of the river, as well as mudlarking as a practice. 

Mudlarking was once how the extreme poor in 18th and 19th century London could try and survive by scavenging bits of wood, metal and rope from the foreshore of the river. Today, thankfully, it is a hobby.

You can read my post here for the history of mudlarking and some of the items we found. London is essentially the largest open air archaeology site in Britain. You need a license from the PLA to mudlark on the foreshore and there are also out-of-bounds areas.

West India Docks

The Museum of London Docklands can be found at the old West India Docks. It opened in 2003 in a Grade I listed sugar warehouse, dating from 1802. West India Docks were built to improve the security and efficiency of goods arriving from the West Indies, for example sugar, rum and tobacco. The clues and reminders to London’s maritime past are therefore all around you on a visit here. 

The first room covers some of the surprising, enlightening and fascinating items that have been found. The foreshore has been recreated and the items are split into categories: romance, food, crime, colonialism etc. 

I have picked out eight of my highlights, but there are lots more amazing items in addition to the below.

1. The Tennis Medal Crime

Very occasionally, mudlarkers have helped to solve crimes or, at least, reunite owners with their stolen items. That is exactly what happened to tennis champion Peter Fleming. 

Fleming, from New Jersey, won four Wimbledon’s men’s doubles titles with John McEnroe in the 1970s and 80s. 

In 2015, his flat in Wimbledon was burgled and nine of his Wimbledon medals were stolen. In 2020, however, he was reunited with five of them when a mudlarker found them on the foreshore near Putney Bridge. It seems that the burglar simply threw anything with Peter’s name on it into the river.

Four therefore still remain to be found, if any mudlarkers out there would like a challenge…

2. The Love Token Mystery 

Tokens of romance, affection and love have been lost or tossed to the river over the centuries. This silver sixpence, found by Caroline Nunnelly, from the early 1700s, has been smoothed down to be inscribed with the word ‘HART’.

Is this someone’s surname, or, perhaps, an alternative spelling of ‘heart’? ‘Hart’ is also the Dutch spelling of ‘heart’, so maybe it was from a Dutch merchant visiting London, given to their English heartthrob. Was it thrown in the river with a wish to be reunited, did it tumble out of a sweaty palm, or maybe cast into the depths after an acrimonious break up? 

3. A Cock Up 

This one was surprising to see from across the room. 

Items fashioned into the shape of penises have been used over the centuries for all sorts of purposes: good luck, protection, fertility or just plain old humour. 

Lara Maiklem found this sticking out of the mud on the foreshore in Wapping. It is thought to come from China, dating from the last 200 years and made of green stone. It has a carved buffalo head over the testicles. In China the buffalo is a symbol of fertility, strength and the life cycle. 

Again, how this ended up in the river is not known, but you can let your imagination run wild. 

4. Food For The Masses

I enjoyed seeing this eel spear as part of the exhibition, found by Ian Smith.

Throughout much of London’s history, eels have been a staple of the working class diet.

In the medieval period, eels in the Thames were bountiful and often would have been caught using an eel spear. These were used to catch eels in clear, shallow water, or to spear them whilst they burrowed into the mud. This item reminds us that the river was once directly a source of sustenance for Londoners.

In the 18th and 19th centuries eel pie and mash and jellied eels became popular in the East End. 

5. A Miraculous Reunion

One of my favourite items was this intricate pocket sun dial and compass (the compass would have placed into the bottom section).

It dates from the late 16th or early 17th century, made from elephant ivory and would have most likely been carried by a ship’s captain. 

Not only that, it was found in two parts, by two different mudlarkers, eight years apart: Peter Ollivant and Gabriel Schmitt. They were searching the same area, years apart and due to the fact that mudlarkers are generally active online, sharing finds and discussing theories, they were able to unite the two pieces. 

6. Trade And colonialism

There are also items related to colonialism and exploitation.

This is an 18th century tobacco pipe bowl found by mudlarker Kenneth Collard, depicting an African man.

African people were sometimes depicted on items like this: the products used to consume the goods made from their enforced labour. As mentioned above, West India Docks were opened in 1802, built by the West India Dock Company for trade from the West Indies, particularly tobacco, rum, brandy and sugar. These items therefore have added poignancy here I think.

It was found on the foreshore, interestingly, right next to a cowrie shell. Cowrie shells were used as local currency in West Africa and were often traded by Europeans in exchange for African goods, service and people. 

Next to it also was this tobacco pipe depicting an enslaved African. From the early 1800s voices in opposition to the slave trade were growing. Campaign imagery would be put onto products such as pipes to remind consumers of the lives that were feeding their habit.

7. Saints And Peacocks

I loved seeing these pilgrim badges. Due to the centrality of religion and the church to everyday life in medieval London, many would go on pilgrimages to shrines. On those pilgrimages they would often buy souvenirs.

One of the most popular pilgrimages from London was to Canterbury, to the tomb of St Thomas Becket. Becket was born on Cheapside in the City of London in 1118 and rose to become the Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor to King Henry II. The former friends fell out in dramatic fashion over disagreements on church independence from the monarch. Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, by knights loyal to the King. 

His death sparked a cult of veneration. Becket was canonised as a saint, he became the patron saint of London and his tomb became one of the the most popular pilgrimage sites in England. 

Below the Becket badge is a peacock. This also once had an image of Becket riding atop the peacock. A peacock apparently represented immortality and making vows.

Pilgrims would often throw their badges into the river as an offering when returning to London.

In 1970 the Thames was officially blessed as a sacred Hindu river by Yogiji Maharaj. Since then many Hindus have gifted sacred items, such as this peacock to its depths.

8. The ‘Roman Hole’

A really fascinating section of the exhibition displayed lots of Roman items. There is a section of foreshore, nicknamed the ‘Roman hole’, because of the large number of Roman finds there in recent years. Each find adds colour and light to the tapestry of knowledge we have about Roman London. 

This, for example, is the largest amphora fragment ever found on the Thames.

It was found by Guy Phillips and dates back to 50-300BCE. It was made in Spain and used to transport olive oil. 

The letters ‘MAR’ have been scratched twice into the surface, perhaps a reference to a Spanish workshop. I love that, although these items can often teach us a lot about the time period from which they date, they also raise many other questions about the people who used them. 

As well as the items above, there is a Viking axe-head, an Anglo-Saxon sword, a 1920s prosthetic eye and much more. 

The exhibition also covers how mudlarkers categorise and investigate their finds and looks at artworks that have been created in response. 

It culminates with the installation The Moon by Luke Jerram, a contemplative space that highlights the importance of the moon and tides in creating the right conditions for mudlarking and the discovery of these treasures. 

It is also worth checking out the gift shop, they have a fantastic book selection in particular!

How To Visit

I thought the exhibition was brilliant and really worth a visit.

As mentioned above, the exhibition is on until the 1st March 2026. The museum is open every day 10am – 5pm, the last entry for Secrets of the Thames is 3.45pm.

Adult tickets are £16 and children under 12 can go for free, find out more about visiting here!

Thank you for reading, more of London’s fascinating history below!