Mudlarking

By Nuhaa Kaleem 7I
What is Mudlarking?
Mudlarking is the act of scavenging in the mud
near rivers to find items that were washed up
on the. They look for items with any value or
historical relevance. Mudlarks can find items
that belonged to people from hundreds of years
ago!

The
items
found
on the
riverbed
are
commonly given to museums or historians,
however some mudlarks choose to keep some
items for themselves.

It is now done by modern technology, such as;

metal detectors, and other advanced tools. In
order to mudlark, it is required to have a licence
to remove artifacts from the shore.
 Where do you mudlark?
Mudlarks often use rivers as a location to
mudlark as new items could be brought in by
the tide. Tidal rivers are ideal for Mudlarking, as
you can mudlark
when there is a low
tide. After the high
tide, there will be new
items found on the
riverbed.

The Thames is a tidal

river and at a low tide
the foreshore is easy
to walk in and
scavenge. In addition
to that, the sand found at the bottom of the
Thames is anaerobic, this means that it allows
items to be preserved. Other rivers in England,
such as: the rivers in Bristol and Newcastle,
have dense riverbeds that are difficult to walk
in as u could sink into it.
 Victorian children
Poor Victorian children often had to earn mere
pennies for survival. The term "mudlark" dates
to Victorian times, when the poor would search
the foreshore for anything useful or valuable,
darting around like mudlark birds.
Back then it would be considered as
one of the worst jobs to have.

Mudlarks sold coal to the local poor,

and took iron, bones, rope and
copper nails to rag shops, or might
sell fragments of pipes or other objects to a
collector who appeared on the riverbank.