Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark @LondonMudlark Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

@LondonMudlark

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Found in the Thames by mudlark Lara Maiklem, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and bestselling author. NEW BOOK OUT IN JULY:

London, England

https://t.co/tPDtMyn1xc

Joined January 2016

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@LondonMudlark

Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 months

MY NEW BOOK - 4 JULY PRE-ORDER NOW! After three years of planning and writing, I can finally reveal my new book - 'A Mudlarking Year: Finding Treasure in Every Season'. It can be pre-ordered now and will publish on 4 July. #mudlarking #mudlark #larking @BloomsburyBooks

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@LondonMudlark

Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

Friday evening, on a very quiet, dark and sultry foreshore, the river finally gave me what I've been waiting 15 years for... a medieval pewter pilgrim badge. Thomas a Becket, c.14th century and the only hand that's touched it in almost 700 years is mine #Mudlarking #Mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

Found by eye on Thursday and balanced on a VERY cold finger. It's a tarnished silver penny, probably 14th or 15th century. I'm not sure who the king is, to be honest they all look the same to me, but I'll post a picture once it's cleaned up and I've had a go at identifying him.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

This is the the passage that leads to one of the oldest remaining set of stairs on the river, Wapping Old Stairs. These passageways are time tunnels, unchanged for centuries; dark, cold and windy, musty and damp with river air, they smell and feel like the past. #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

I’ve seen some weird stuff come out of the mud, but this is one of the best. Found by a friend a couple of weeks ago, it’s carved from jade and could be quite old. A returning sailor having second thoughts about the souvenir he brought back from China? #mudlarking #mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

10 months

I had a museum for the things I brought home as a child: a dusty chest of drawers in the barn next to the house. Now I've grown up, so has my cabinet of curiosities. This is where I keep many of my treasures: a "handsome, ink-stained, printer's chest" that lives in my spare room

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

Just found!

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

I LIVE IN HOPE, an anthem for our time engraved on the inside of a silver 16th century posey ring that I found on the Thames foreshore. #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

My top find last week has to be this little broken pocket sundial, dating from the late 1500s to early 1600s. It’s a rare find, but incredibly the second one I’ve found on the foreshore, the first was about 10 years ago. They are both made of ivory, probably in Nuremburg, Germany

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

9 days

I had a museum for the things I brought home as a child: a dusty old chest of drawers in the barn next to the house. Now I’ve grown up, so has my cabinet of curiosities. This is where I keep many of my treasures: a “handsome, ink-stained, oak printer’s chest” #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

Picked up from the #Thames foreshore a couple of days ago. I think it's a medieval cloak pin, but it has been reported to the Museum of London, so we will find out more soon. What a great way to end the year! #LondonMudlark #Mudlark #Mudlarking #bloomsburybooks #liverightpub

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

Thousands of years of London's history, all from one tide this weekend: • An early Neolithic leaf-shaped arrow head • A medieval button c.15th century • A post medieval jetton (counting token) c.late 16th to early 17th century • Handmade dress pins, c.1400-1800

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

6 years

I’m still shaking from yesterday’s find. It’s the top of a Roman glass ungent, which was used to contain the oils that were used in bath houses. Contacting the Museum of London today, In the meantime, enjoy... #LondonMudlark #mudlark #mudlarking #bloomsburybooks #liverightpub

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

My Roman pot, as found a few weeks ago and all cleaned up. Just a small nick out of the back, but otherwise perfect. Unbelievable that this has been sitting in the river for almost 2,000 years. #londonmudlark #mudlark #mudlarking #mudlarkingbook #bloomsburybooks #liverightpub

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

A while back, a few of us went Roman pot hunting on the river. The most patient one among us carefully collected over 50 shards, convinced they all came from the same vessel. He was right, it took him three days, but he pieced together this early Roman pot, possibly a storage jar

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

Roman coin! Found by eye on the Thames foreshore last week. I often wonder how they got there: flushed down a drain, dropped by accident or flicked into the river by a Roman citizen hoping for dome luck and to please the gods? #Mudlarking #Larking #Mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

This perfect Roman pot had eroded out of the mud and was sitting on the surface waiting to be found. #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

@YorkshireMuseum Found on the Thames foreshore, I rest my case. #CreepiestObject

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

Update, just been told it’s St Osmund, mid 15th and rarer than a Becket badge

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

10 months

Update on the ‘hat’ I found several years ago that was tentatively dated to the 17th century by the @MuseumofLondon It’s been @cardiffuni for the last year being conserved. Everyone thought it was leather, but under microscopic examination it’s felt! 1/3 #Mudlark #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

It's hard not to lark as I walk, so last year during lockdown, when I couldn't get to the river, I collected seeds on my daily walks and scattered them over a bare patch in the garden. This is my lockdown garden - a jumble of foraged seeds and accidental visitors #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

9 months

Old elm drains are eroding out of the foreshore at several sites now. They will eventually wash away as so many have before. Elm is resistant to rot and complete trunks with bored holes were often used to convey waste water to the river. 1/2 #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

23 days

Too big for the Thames? The Thames is too shallow for a cruise ship this large to travel any further upstream than Greenwich, were it sits emitting up to as much diesel exhaust as 34,400 idling lorries a day, within a low emissions zone. Is it necessary to? Should it be allowed?

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

Late 18th to early 19th century glass found in the thick gloopy mud of the river Thames by fellow mudlark and friend James. It never ceases to amaze me what the river chooses to preserve. #LondonMudlark #Mudlark #mudlarking #mudlarkingbook

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

I found this bead (c.2AD) hidden in a patch of shingle. Such beads were common throughout the Empire. It may have been worn by a woman as part of a string of beads, by a child on a simple leather thong, or even decorated the horse harness of a member of the Roman Cavalry

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

I had a museum for the things I brough home as a child: a dusty old chest of drawers in the barn next to the house. It had peeling veneer, ornate metal looped handles and three deep drawers, to which I assigned a different category of treasure. #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

An update on the sword I found yesterday. The handle is wood inlaid with copper alloy, cross bar is iron and blade is in good condition but broken. I’ve left the concretion on the blade and wrapped the whole thing in wet cloths. Now sealed in plastic bag and pics with @findsorguk

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 months

Thatcher, Thatcher, Milk Snatcher. Are you old enough to remember these 1/3 pint bottles? I am. The milk was always a bit warm and smelled cheesy, but they were an integral part of the school day and if you were lucky you were allowed to be the one to stick the straws in 1/3

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

8 months

This is a Canterbury bell, a souvenir of a pilgrimage made to Canterbury Cathedral some time around the 15th century. It was found yesterday by Denise on a foreshore walk I led for @Southwarkcathed 1/4 #mudlark #larking #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

I found this crotal bell a while back.The 'pea' inside had survived and I was the first person in 400 years to hear it rattle, I had actually heard history. In my mind I saw a horse, pulling a heavy wooden cart through London's smelly narrow #LondonMudlark #Mudlark #Mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

This morning the foreshore was covered in sh*t. I’ve never seen it so bad. It wasn’t central London, where we’re told it happens because the old sewers can’t cope, it was in Greenwich. My apologies but I think everyone should see this and @officialthameswater should be ashamed

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

7 days

GOLD button. Just found. #mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 months

Thames thimbles, medieval to 19th century. All found by eye on the Thames foreshore over 20 years of searching in what might be the World’s most extreme game of hunt the thimble. #Mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 months

Someone lost their phone and car key c.2005 #Mudlark #Mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

A couple of weeks ago I found a pocket sundial on the Thames foreshore. It's a rare find, but I’ve found one before, which is ivory and dated to the late 16th - 17th c. I assumed this was also ivory, until I cleaned it up and realised it's made of wood. #Mudlarking #Mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

9 months

A while ago I hit a sweet spot. Every time I visited and searched a small area about 3ft x 3ft I would find a bead. Sometimes there were weeks between my visits, but for five visits in a row I came home with a drilled garnet or a small hollow gold bead 1/2

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

Just before the world shut down, I was invited by Paul Buck, former curator of Horology @britishmuseum to go behind the scenes to see this incredible Thames foreshore find. It’s an early watch, dating from around 1650, that was found with its cover, chain and key. #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

7 months

Look carefully at the mud from inside this clay pipe. The dark bit on top and the small lump are flakes of 400-year-old tobacco. If you collect enough you can actually burn it for the scent of a Jacobean tavern. #Mudlark #Mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

The best portrait of Elizabeth I've ever found, and it's on quite a rare coin too, a three farthings coin, worth three quarters of a penny. They were only struck between between 1561 and 1582, this one is dated 1561 (I don’t use a metal detector) 1/4 #mudlarking #mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

One of the strangest things I've seen come off the Thames was found last year on the Wapping foreshore by a friend. It was half buried in the mud and he thought he'd found a bottle... until he pulled it out! Its jade, probably from China and likely to be 18th-19th c. #Mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 months

Just found and it’s very fragile. The first decorated comb I’ve ever found. It’s made of wood and probably dates to 15th-16th century. I wish I knew what the rest of the decoration looked like. #Mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

My heart leapt when I saw the word ‘Alwayes’ inside the ring I picked up on Friday. It’s a silver posey ring (c.16th century TBC) given as a token of love and affection and cut off in rage and pain – what did he do to her to make her that determined to get it off her finger!

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

This is a small selection of the coins and tokens I've found on the river over the years. I didn't find any of them with a metal detector and I don't dig or scrape away the surface either. I search eyes only, which is a far less destructive and meditative way of saving history

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

A special Mother's Day post for all exasperated mothers fed up with replacing lost jumpers, shoes, gloves, etc. This shoe was lost by a child around 500 years ago and was so well preserved by the Thames mud that I could still make out the soft impression of little toes inside.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

My late Iron Age pot, as found a couple of years ago and all cleaned up. Just a small nick out of the back, but otherwise perfect. Unbelievable that it had been sitting in the river for over 2,000 years. #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

This is the Roman pot I found a few weeks ago, except according to experts it’s not a Roman pot... it’s IRON AGE! (And yes it has been recorded) #londonmudlark #mudlark #mudlarking #mudlarkingbook #bloomsburybooks

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

Posted with kind permission of fellow mudlark Christine Fernbank, who made this stained glass window out of glass she found on the Thames in Central London and the Estuary. She’s used bottle bottoms, wine glass bases & stems, & bits of cut glass. simply stunning. #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

Happy Halloween Mudlarks! I got the shock of my life when I saw this glass eye a while back, like Old Father Thames himself staring back at me from the mud. Read more about the history of glass eyes on my FB and Insta pages today #londonmudlark #mudlark #mudlarking #halloween2019

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

16th c silver posey ring with 'I LIVE IN HOPE' engraved on the inside. It's large and I've always thought it originally belonged to a man, maybe a sailor or river worker, and it slipped off his cold wet finger one winter morning. Or perhaps it's story is more tragic #Mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

Not the most flattering picture, but a very happy one. The moment we found a complete Roman pot on the river last week. Still reeling from the fact this two thousand year old pot was rolling around on the foreshore #londonmudlark #Mudlark #Mudlarking #Mudlarkingbook

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

I found this c.16th century sword on the Thames foreshore over a year ago and took it straight to the Museum of London. I know its rough age, that it's broken and the handle is made from wood inlaid with twisted brass wire, but please @MuseumofLondon tell me more! #Mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

Handmade pins. All of them are over 200 years old, some of them could be more than 600, and still as sharp as the day they were made. Everyone used them, from princesses to paupers for swaddling, clothes, and death shrouds. If the humble pin could talk, what tales it would tell.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

Horselydown Stairs in Bermondsey provides one of my favourite riverside views and it hasn’t changed since Tower Bridge was built in 1886. Can you see the little mudlarks being ‘spoken to’ by the copper in the old picture? #mudlarking #mudlark #londonmudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

I found this human skull on the Thames foreshore this week. It’s been reported to the police and the Museum Of London. Read more about it on my Facebook and Instagram pages #londonmudlark #mudlark #mudlarking #mudlarkingbook #bloomsburybooks #liverightpub

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

My best find from Monday. It looks like a stick, but it's actually a Roman hairpin made of bone. I've found quite a few of these, always broken, but this is almost complete and the longest one I have. #Mudlarking #Mudlark #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

On cold rainy Monday morning, 550 years after it left pinned to the cloak of a medieval pilgrim, the pewter badge of St Osmund that I found on the Thames foreshore is finally back @SalisburyCath #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

A handful of history: thimbles. One for each finger and more. The oldest is the 14th century beehive thimble on my ring finger, you can just see the tiny heart engraved at the bottom of the 17th century thimble on my index finger and the thinble on my thumb is c.15th/16th century

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

6 years

This is my first false eye, found about six months ago on the #Thames foreshore. I wonder who lost it? Did it fall from a corpse or was it washed down a drain. Read more about it on my Instagram page London.Mudlark #LondonMudlark #Mudlark #Mudlarking #halloween #bloomsburybooks

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

These are are common finds on a particular stretch of the foreshore in central London and they’ve been appearing for years. They can look like tiny planets and are often mistaken for marbles or game pieces.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

I collect handles from the foreshore, which might sound a bit strange until you think about a handle. It’s the most intimate bit of a pot, the part that was touched time and time again by countless hands. Here’s some of my favourites: medieval to 19th century #Mudlarking #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

Fresh off the foreshore, I’ve just found this lovely long 18th century clay pipe. #Mudlarking #mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

I'm 50 years old today! Beyond thankful to have made it this far and can't wait to see where life's great adventure takes me next 😊 #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

Bone dice from the foreshore, including the one I found two weeks ago (second left). They date circa Roman to 19th century, but dice are hard to date precisely. 1/3 #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

To mark Burns Night here are four Scottish related finds: 2 clay pipes celebrating the union of Scotland and England; a ‘hard head’ (1559) from the reign of Mary Queen of Scots; and a Charles II Scottish Turner 1663-8, all on top of my family tartan Alba gu brath!

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

The Ukrainian flag was officially adopted for the first time in 1918. It was outlawed by the Soviet Union and restored on 28 January 1992. My heart is with the people of Ukraine as they fight to keep their flag flying. #Mudlarking #Mudlark #Larking #Ukrania

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

It's fair to say that Seaham on the North East coast is the sea glass capital of the UK. There is so much sea glass there because of the bottle works that was founded in 1853 and made up to 20,000 hand-blown bottles every day. #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

I'm Henry the Eighth I am, I am! This made getting up at 4.00am for the early tide this morning well worth it. Found eyes only, a silver Henry VIII sovereign penny. More to come when I've done my reading about it. #Mudlarking #Larking #Mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

9 months

There really is no good way to hold this! It was found several years ago at Wapping, famed for its sailor town where ships docked from all over the globe. I know it’s not made of Jade and it’s probably Chinese. It’s been tentatively dated to the 18th or 19th century 1/2

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

An 'indented' or 'folded' beaker Roman beaker that's been lying in the mud for almost 2,000 years. A magical moment from a couple of years ago. #Mudlarking #Mudlark #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

I looked up today and saw an unmistakable shape passing on the ebb tide. This was the 3rd soul I’ve seen taken by the river. We are living in difficult times, check on friends, call family, speak to someone if you need to. The river gives and the river takes away, RIP friend.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 month

Best find today, a 2,000 year old bone hairpin. It’s fairly similar in style to the jet hairpins pushed into a Roman hairpiece, that once belonged to a young Roman woman in York. 1/3

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

I almost left this behind on the foreshore, thinking it was just another nail head, but the second time I picked it up I saw a little lion face looking back at me. It's cast in copper alloy and I think it might be a Roman mount/stud. What do you think? #Mudlarking #Mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 months

After all y he excitement of revealing the cover of my new book today (see previous post), I decided to chill out with the river for a couple of hours and found another bone die. If I had to take a guess at its age I’d say 18th century because of the other things I’ve found there

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

That magic moment you pick it up and for a moment time stands perfectly still. Found today, a beautifully carved bone (knife?). Possibly medieval. I’m a very happy mudlark tonight 😊 #londonmudlark #mudlark #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

Wow!

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Floods in Cambridgeshire highlight shape of English Civil War fort

The shape of a 400-year-old military defence is highlighted by rising water levels in The Fens.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

11 months

Little more than a fish scale of silver, that slipped from a purse and fluttered into the mud 400 years ago. Tiny halfpennies like this, with a rose on both sides, were minted under Charles I between 1625 and 1649 at the Tower of London, just up-river from where I found it. 1/5

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

The prehistoric worked flint I found today is so fine and thin it’s almost transparent. It took some incredible skill to make and truly is a thing of beauty. It’s not something I’ve ever found before, Mesolithic or Palaeolithic? #mudlarking #Mudlark #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

A few more treasures from my visit to Seaham on the North East coast. Seaham is the UK’s sea glass capital thanks to the glassworks that tipped its waste into the sea over 100 years ago. It’s long gone now, but sea-worn treasures like this milk glass still wash up on the beaches.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

10 months

‘I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.’ John Masefield #Mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

My trip to Seaham yielded over 50 colours, types and shades. The glass is from the Londonderry Bottle Works that disposed of waste glass into the sea over 100 years ago. The North Sea smoothed it into colourful jewels that it offers back on each tide. #mudlarking #mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 months

GOLD! It’s 16th century, I know that because I found it where a mini hoard of tiny pieces of Tudor gold have been washing up for years and this piece perfectly matched the size and delicacy of other bits that have been found there. Gold dance on its way…. #mudlarking #mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

8 months

I’ve been formally admitted to the Society of Antiquaries as a Fellow and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of such an esteemed and ancient organisation 1/4 #mudlarking #mudlark #larking @SocAntiquaries

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

Sometimes the river sends me a message. Forlorn from Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan “to lose”. In Dutch it’s verloren, German is also verloren, and Swedish it’s förlorad. This single word quite accurately sums up river at certain points along its course.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

My first mudlark of 2022 gave me a tiny Charles I halfpenny, little more than a fish scale of silver, that slipped from a purse and fluttered into the mud 400 years ago. Easy to lose and not worth a great deal back then, it wouldn’t have been enough to get you across the river

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

Until I got this recorded by my Finds Liaison Officer on @findsorguk I thought it was a 16th or 17th century book clasp, but it’s much rarer than that. Turns out its a buckle plate from the 8th or 9th century and it came all the way to London from Ireland. #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

6 months

Life has conspired to not let me get down to the foreshore as much as I would have liked this year, but the river has still been kind. Here are some of my favourite finds of 2023, a year I’ll be pleased to see the back of. 1/4 #mudlark #mudlarking #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

More news about the skull I found earlier this year. The police have confirmed it is c.300 y/o which suggests a victim of the prison hulks. I’m working on getting more testing maybe a facial reconstruction. More on my FB and Insta pages #londonmudlark #mudlark #Mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

I've found hundred of raw garnets on the Thames, so far at four different locations. Some have been quite big, but none as large as the whopper I found last week. They are not native, so how did they end up in the Thames? 1/4 #Mudlarking #Mudlark #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 month

The purses and bags I find are usually empty, cleared out by thieves before they’re dumped in the river. This one is full though, so now to try and get it back to its owner. #Mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

7 months

A Roman copper alloy figurine of Mercury, found eyes only a while back on the foreshore of the river Thames. Mercury was the god of trade and was likely to be popular in Londinium, which was founded as a trading port in AD47. #Mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 months

Think I might be doing a gold dance, but I’m holding back until I’m sure. Very worn and someone has driven a nail through the middle. #Mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

We ditched the old £ shillings and pence 50 years ago to the day. Here’s some of the predecimal coins (and tokens) I’ve found on the foreshore (no detector needed 😉) #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

A spot of streetlarking. Two late 18th century cannons on a London street. They were once street bollards so it’s unusual to see both ends… read on 1/4 #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

The figure of Bonus Eventus (Good Outcome) on a Roman ring intaglio that I found among the shingle on the Thames foreshore. I reckon we could all do with some Bonus Eventus right now #mudlarking #mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

A man in a dusty cloak and worn shoes is making his way through the dense crowds that fill the narrow road passing over London Bridge. He has just returned from a pilgrimage and leans heavily on the stout wooden stick that has seen him all the way to Salisbury, #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 months

Here’s more on the tiny piece of 16th century gold I found last week. I think this is an oe, an early type of sequin that was stamped out of a sheet of metal (gold, silver and brass) and sewn onto clothes to add a bit of bling - the Tudors were quite fond of a bit of bling.

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

3 years

The Victorian teapot I found on the Thames foreshore last week has now started a new life as a bird house in my garden (complete with handy drainage spout). #mudlarking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

2 years

GOLD! Just found, eyes only, on the Thames foreshore - looks to be a 16th century spangle. Il write more when I’ve recovered 😆 #Mudlark #mudlarking #Larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

4 years

This is the Tudor child’s shoe I found on the Thames foreshore. Now it’s been properly conserved by @CUConservation I want to make sure it continues to educate and fascinate and I have great things planned for the shoe! #LondonMudlark #mudlarking #mudlark

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

1 year

A George I farthing from the year 1722, when Sir Isaac Newton was Master of the Royal Mint, Daniel Defoe published Moll Flanders and Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald was born. 1/2 #mudlarking #mudlark #larking

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Lara Maiklem FSA - The London Mudlark

5 years

"I had a museum for the things I brough home as a child: a dusty old chest of drawers...’ (Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames) Now I've grown up, so has my cabinet of curiosities #LondonMudlark #Mudlark #Mudlarking @BloomsburyBooks

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