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Mudlark’d: Hidden Histories from the River Thames
A captivating history of London as told through objects recovered from the muddy banks of the Thames and the lives of the people who owned them
Mudlark'd combines insights from two hundred rare objects discovered on the foreshore of the River Thames with a wealth of breathtaking illustrations to uncover the hidden histories of ordinary people from prehistory to today. Malcolm Russell tells the stories behind each find, revealing the habits, customs, and artistry of the people who created and used it.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, London was the busiest port in the world, exchanging goods and ideas with people from every continent. The shores of the Thames have long been densely packed with taverns, brothels, and markets, and the river's muddy banks are a repository of intriguing and precious objects that evoke long-forgotten ways of life. With Russell as your guide, a bottleneck of a jug is shown to be a talisman to counter the ill effects of witchcraft. Glass beads expose the brutal realities of the transatlantic slave trade. Clay tobacco pipes uncover the lives of Victorian magicians. A scrap of Tudor cloth illuminates the experiences of Dutch and French religious refugees.
These are just some of the stories told in Mudlark'd, which also contains a primer, giving advice on how to mudlark on tidal rivers around the world and outlining the tools and equipment you will need.
Mudlark'd combines insights from two hundred rare objects discovered on the foreshore of the River Thames with a wealth of breathtaking illustrations to uncover the hidden histories of ordinary people from prehistory to today. Malcolm Russell tells the stories behind each find, revealing the habits, customs, and artistry of the people who created and used it.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, London was the busiest port in the world, exchanging goods and ideas with people from every continent. The shores of the Thames have long been densely packed with taverns, brothels, and markets, and the river's muddy banks are a repository of intriguing and precious objects that evoke long-forgotten ways of life. With Russell as your guide, a bottleneck of a jug is shown to be a talisman to counter the ill effects of witchcraft. Glass beads expose the brutal realities of the transatlantic slave trade. Clay tobacco pipes uncover the lives of Victorian magicians. A scrap of Tudor cloth illuminates the experiences of Dutch and French religious refugees.
These are just some of the stories told in Mudlark'd, which also contains a primer, giving advice on how to mudlark on tidal rivers around the world and outlining the tools and equipment you will need.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 10, 2024
This book is an awesome trek though history about the Great Thames via mudlarking! From ancient roman wine vessels to buttons and Dutch tiles these items have been found in or on the shores of one of the greatest shipping channels in history. The book contains beautiful detailed pictures of these treasures many found by the author himself and also explanations of what each item was used for during it's time. I would love to head to the Thames right now, don a pair of boots and see what wonderful gems are awaiting me! Recommended for History lovers.
August 11, 2022
Beautiful book with a brilliantly readable approach to social history. I love the way the stories flow from the finds from the Thames foreshore and the the level of research that has gone into each object.
The format is so good. I learnt a lot about my city from prehistory to COVID. Great stories, shining a light on the brilliantly diverse people of London from ornatrices to macaronis to cunning folk to gin drinkers, cross dressers, sex workers and forgotten heroes. Loved it.
The format is so good. I learnt a lot about my city from prehistory to COVID. Great stories, shining a light on the brilliantly diverse people of London from ornatrices to macaronis to cunning folk to gin drinkers, cross dressers, sex workers and forgotten heroes. Loved it.
June 9, 2022
The story of London and London lives told through objects washed up on the Thames foreshore. It' a fascinating journey, engagingly told. I seldom notice the feel of a book, most are just 'meh', but with Mudlark'd there is no missing it. It contains a wealth of colour images all laid out beautifully on quality paper. It's the prefect gift for history lovers.
May 5, 2022
I thought I’d dip in to this book but once I started I was so absorbed I read it cover to cover! It’s a wonderful mix of micro histories- stories of ordinary people doing ordinary things- placing the context of London and Londoners into world events, alongside really beautiful images of treasures found along the rivers foreshore.
August 14, 2022
Interesting pictures of the river finds and some interesting history of London's past. However, a very marked focus on some of the worst of human behavior left a bad taste. Was glad I got a library copy instead of buying.
July 2, 2026
I’m a follower of a number of Thames River mudlarks on YouTube so I was excited to read this book.
Although it is interesting I was disappointed with the modern lens too many objects were given and the amount of supposition of who might have owned or used the items the author talks about. For instance in one of the background explanations or mini histories he gives about the strangers or immigrant’s that ended up in London, he likens the suspicions of locals protecting local industry to “today’s moral panic over economic migrants posing as asylum seekers “. I would suggest that this isn’t a fair comparison given the cultural and religious differences in today’s migrants flooding across the English Channel. The immigrants in the 17th, 18th and 19th century were from Europe so Christian and ethnically pretty much the same as the English.
There is a section on sex workers where the author extrapolates that various shore finds “might” have been linked to the brothels that dotted the shore to service the shipping industry and affiliates. Or the candlestick, chamber pot fragments, chafing dish handle etc could have just been general household rubbish that ended up in the Thames.
There is a section on Black Georgians that I think over emphasises the impact and facts about the place blacks have in British history. A piece of lead shot becomes a history lesson on the the trading of firearms for slaves on the West African coast and a button from a particular button-maker is highlighted because said button-maker supplied buttons to a journalist who travelled with David Livingstone to Africa where “his efforts were used to justify the expansion of European control of Africa”. He probably supplied buttons to local doctors, teachers and lawyers as well.
And so the author goes on.
Yes, maybe his finds literally did have links to some of the least savoury bits of history … or not. I don’t appreciate the what ifs, maybes, possibly, could suggest, could indicate, vague links to arbitrary historical events without actual concrete evidence to prove their provenance and function.
In saying this, the finds are generally interesting and the history of many of them are a great snapshot of a past long gone but miraculously preserved in the tidal mud of the great and ancient city of London.
Although it is interesting I was disappointed with the modern lens too many objects were given and the amount of supposition of who might have owned or used the items the author talks about. For instance in one of the background explanations or mini histories he gives about the strangers or immigrant’s that ended up in London, he likens the suspicions of locals protecting local industry to “today’s moral panic over economic migrants posing as asylum seekers “. I would suggest that this isn’t a fair comparison given the cultural and religious differences in today’s migrants flooding across the English Channel. The immigrants in the 17th, 18th and 19th century were from Europe so Christian and ethnically pretty much the same as the English.
There is a section on sex workers where the author extrapolates that various shore finds “might” have been linked to the brothels that dotted the shore to service the shipping industry and affiliates. Or the candlestick, chamber pot fragments, chafing dish handle etc could have just been general household rubbish that ended up in the Thames.
There is a section on Black Georgians that I think over emphasises the impact and facts about the place blacks have in British history. A piece of lead shot becomes a history lesson on the the trading of firearms for slaves on the West African coast and a button from a particular button-maker is highlighted because said button-maker supplied buttons to a journalist who travelled with David Livingstone to Africa where “his efforts were used to justify the expansion of European control of Africa”. He probably supplied buttons to local doctors, teachers and lawyers as well.
And so the author goes on.
Yes, maybe his finds literally did have links to some of the least savoury bits of history … or not. I don’t appreciate the what ifs, maybes, possibly, could suggest, could indicate, vague links to arbitrary historical events without actual concrete evidence to prove their provenance and function.
In saying this, the finds are generally interesting and the history of many of them are a great snapshot of a past long gone but miraculously preserved in the tidal mud of the great and ancient city of London.
April 27, 2023
Even though it looks like a coffee table book, I read it cover to cover. It's a well-organised volume, touching on little bits of history as represented by the gorgeously photographed finds.
I have to admit that I was hoping for a little more practical advice in the final section of tips on mudlarking: it was mainly about the license, registering finds and other things I could have Googled for; but then that section wasn't the point of the book.
It's definitely a beautiful book to keep, display and refer back to from time to time.
I have to admit that I was hoping for a little more practical advice in the final section of tips on mudlarking: it was mainly about the license, registering finds and other things I could have Googled for; but then that section wasn't the point of the book.
It's definitely a beautiful book to keep, display and refer back to from time to time.
October 7, 2022
Phenomenal color illustrations well-laid out make this a very attractive account of mudlarking, scavenging the muddy banks of the Thames at low tide … from rings and cuff-links to buttons and bottles, these finds outline the history of London from Roman times to the Present … eye-opening …
September 20, 2022
This fascinating and delightful book contains glimpses into the authentic history of London told through objects found while mudlarking the River Thames.
October 7, 2022
Fantastic photos and other illustrations accompany the fascinating history of treasure-seeking along the muddy banks of the Thames.
November 9, 2022
Wonderful book.
November 29, 2022
Interesting coffee table/dip into book. Lots of ancillary history facts that lift this book above the ordinary.
June 16, 2025
Absolutely gorgeous book of essays and photographs of deitrius found on the Thames foreshore in London by mudlarkers. A fascinating look at the day-to-day lives of Londoners throughout its history.
July 22, 2025
Very notable book with interesting historical vignettes. Easy to read and well documented with pictures. The historical context of all finds is well done.
August 7, 2025
Lovely and well organized. A well done book
June 22, 2024
Incredibly interesting book that's a bit different from the usual mudlarking fare.
Malcolm Russell has chosen to step away from the usual ID guide for coins, pottery, tobacco pipes etc (though there is a little of that to be found), instead using items as a jumping off point for chapters on the social history of overlooked groups. There's a wonderfully diverse and fascinating array, from Victorian parachutists to female fascists, witches to Indian seamen, slaves to Blitz firefighters.
The chapters are supplemented by gorgeous images, both of the finds as well as museum artefacts, paintings and pamphlets. Having seen a few other mudlarking books with no or subpar images it makes a change to be able to properly see the items in question.
Russell also has an eye for an entertaining anecdote, such as a colonel who supposedly killed himself due to the amount of time it took to do up all of his buttons, or gamesters with brilliant names such as The Mathematician, Captain Whimper, The Black Dwarf and The Calculator. The most bizarre has to be about travelling troupes who turned tooth extraction into entertainment by pulling teeth with one hand, firing a pistol with the other all whilst with their head in a sack, also flamboyantly named, such as Le Grande Thomas, also known as 'the terror of the human jaw'.
As you'd expect for a history book which looks at marginalised groups many of the stories are quite moving which Russell handles sensitively, but maybe giving too much leeway to his subjects at times. In the section on musicians he talks about the 'high and low status enjoyed by musicians - bringers of pleasure who have studied throughout history to establish their respectability', but the example he gives is a man on trial for murder, which seems a reasonable reason for someone to be seen as 'low status'!
Malcolm Russell has chosen to step away from the usual ID guide for coins, pottery, tobacco pipes etc (though there is a little of that to be found), instead using items as a jumping off point for chapters on the social history of overlooked groups. There's a wonderfully diverse and fascinating array, from Victorian parachutists to female fascists, witches to Indian seamen, slaves to Blitz firefighters.
The chapters are supplemented by gorgeous images, both of the finds as well as museum artefacts, paintings and pamphlets. Having seen a few other mudlarking books with no or subpar images it makes a change to be able to properly see the items in question.
Russell also has an eye for an entertaining anecdote, such as a colonel who supposedly killed himself due to the amount of time it took to do up all of his buttons, or gamesters with brilliant names such as The Mathematician, Captain Whimper, The Black Dwarf and The Calculator. The most bizarre has to be about travelling troupes who turned tooth extraction into entertainment by pulling teeth with one hand, firing a pistol with the other all whilst with their head in a sack, also flamboyantly named, such as Le Grande Thomas, also known as 'the terror of the human jaw'.
As you'd expect for a history book which looks at marginalised groups many of the stories are quite moving which Russell handles sensitively, but maybe giving too much leeway to his subjects at times. In the section on musicians he talks about the 'high and low status enjoyed by musicians - bringers of pleasure who have studied throughout history to establish their respectability', but the example he gives is a man on trial for murder, which seems a reasonable reason for someone to be seen as 'low status'!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews