An English Church Has Hired Someone To Find Hidden Treasures
LONDON — One of the most unusual — and indeed unique — roles within a cathedral has been created. Southwark Cathedral in London has appointed Lara Maiklem as its first mudlark-in-residence, creating what is believed to be the U.K.’s only permanent mudlarking role within a cultural or heritage organization.
A mudlark is someone who hunts through the mud, especially along the shores of the Thames River, looking for lost or historical items.
Known as ‘The London Mudlark,” Maiklem has been mudlarking on the River Thames for nearly 25 years. As a mudlarker, she is one of a unique community of people allowed by law to explore and seek finds on the shores of the River Thames.
A tidal river, the muddy shores are only exposed at low tide, and a special permit is needed to become a mudlarker. The mudlarkers are not allowed to dig or use a metal detector. It is purely walking and spotting items.
Maiklem said it all began because she sought peace and solitude.
“I began walking along the Thames path and ventured onto the foreshore at low tide, and started finding things,” she said. “It became an addiction, a lucky dip of lost objects that told stories of ordinary forgotten lives. I often walk little more than a mile in five hours, yet can travel 2,000 years back in time through the objects revealed by the tide.”
A typical session on the river’s foreshore can result in encounters with thousands of years of history, from Neolithic flints to Roman hairpins, medieval buckles and pilgrim badges to Tudor shoes, Georgian wig curlers and clay pipes to Victorian pottery. This is the longest archaeological site in the U.K.
“I would describe myself as spiritual rather than religious, but the river is a great place to ponder. It has been a place of worship and offerings since prehistory, and when you’re beside it you get a great sense of why,” she said.
Lara Maiklem (Wikipedia Commons photo)
Feeling at home
Walking along the shore has become an essential part of her daily life, offering the opportunity to become “lost in the minutiae of my surroundings” even in the midst of central London.
Maiklem has published four books exploring different aspects of Mudlarking such as, “A Mudlarking Year: Finding Treasure in Every Season.” Her first book came out in 2019 and became a Sunday Times bestseller entitled, “Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames.” It was this that led to her connections with Southwark Cathedral.
“I became involved with Southwark Cathedral when my first book came out,” she said. “They invited me to speak, and gradually I got involved with the cathedral more and more. It’s such a lovely welcoming community, I really feel at home there now.”
Southwark Cathedral is well placed to become involved in Thames mudlarking.
“For more than 1,400 years, people have arrived here by river, worshipped beside it, traded across it and crossed it on journeys of pilgrimage,” said Very Rev. Dr. Mark Oakley, who serves as dean of Southwark. “Even our ancient name, St Mary Overie — St. Mary ‘over the river’ reminds us how deeply Southwark Cathedral’s identity is bound to the life of the Thames.”
He added: “Lara’s work helps us to connect to our riverine past, enabling us to see the humanity behind the objects that are found on the foreshore. She has become a cherished friend of the cathedral, and we are delighted to recognize her continued contribution through this appointment.”
Since 2019, Maiklem has been working closely with the cathedral, contributing to its exhibition program, holding talks, tours and public events celebrating the history of the Thames foreshore.
“Since I started collaborating with the Cathedral, it has become London’s only permanent home for mudlarking. The cathedral shop even stocks a range of mudlarking souvenirs,” Maiklem said.
She has established and curates the cathedral’s permanent free-to-view mudlarking exhibition. Located at the cathedral’s entrance, it features a permanent collection — plus a regularly changing display highlighting the finds of a different mudlark every month, giving mudlarks the opportunity to “interpret the river and their passion in their own way.”
Every July, Southwark Cathedral hosts the annual Heritage Craft and Mudlarking Festival at which Maiklem takes a central role. It brings together mudlarks, craftspeople, archaeologists, antiquarians and authors for a day of talks, exhibitions and family activities including the opportunity to handle ancient artifacts. The churchyard is used as a venue for demonstrations of the crafts that were used to build London over the centuries, and formed part of life on the river.
As mudlark-in-residence, Maiklem will continue to develop this special relationship between the cathedral, the river and its history, creating an ever wider program of activities.
“I’ve so enjoyed bringing mudlarking to Southwark over the last seven years, and being made mudlark-in-residence really is a great honor,” she added. “Being so close the river, the cathedral is where mudlarking belongs and I’m looking forward to working with the cathedral team to continue the exhibitions, talks, tours and festivals that have put Southwark Cathedral at the heart of the mudlarking community.”
Angela Youngman is a freelance journalist who has written for a wide range of British and international publications.