Fish and Chips: Beachcombing on the Thames

We tried beachcombing on the river Thames in London. We had a very knowledgeable archaeologist, Fiona, that led us down to the water, telling us tidbits of rules and information, historical narratives of London back when as well as her very own stories being an archaeologist. I found someone else's blog of their experience with Fiona.

Beachcombing is NOT mudlarking (Fiona said this several times). The difference between beachcombing and mudlarking are pretty simple. Beachcombing is just as it sounds, combing the surface of the beach, no digging or disturbing the beach, such as nudging with your foot, for treasures. Beachcombing is acceptable and free; however, if you plan to go mudlarking, you need a license. Mudlarking, although the common term that most people use for scouring the shore fronts, you could legally dig to a certain depth. I can't remember exactly, maybe 4 inches (centimeters?).

The Thames has some kind of bacteria in the water which is just gross and you don't want to contract it, so wear gloves and don't touch your mouth and face, bring hand-sanitizer or wipes ( I would probably recommend this for anywhere, just in case). Bring a sturdy plastic baggies to hold your finds. I used a Ziploc sandwich bag which sufficed my needs. Also, wear sturdy shoes, such as wellies, to keep your feet dry should the tide come in and give you better grip so you don't fall. Fiona and several others wore trainers (tennis shoes as we call them in the states).

Hopefully it goes without saying that, in order to beachcomb, you have to wait for low-tide, when the beach is exposed. As for times during the year, I have heard conflicting information that you can just go down any time and other information stating you have to wait until the 2 public beach days during the year or by invitation from the Crown (this may apply on to mudlarking on the Thames). Now for beginners, I'd suggest doing the London Walks tour with Fiona first, or a few times. It costs £10, so it's a pretty cheap adventure.

Fiona took us down on the South side, near Shakespeare's Globe Theatre where most of the peasants and "poorer" people lived. The opposite side, near Tower Bridge is supposedly the "rich" side. On our beachcombing expedition, we found pieces of coal, flint, crockery, bones, teeth, nails, glass, roof tiles, clay pipes, and more. After combing the beach for about 15- 20 minutes, Fiona had us gather around so she could tell us just what we had found, then set us loose again. The tour was set for about 2 hours which seems like quite a while, but time sure does fly when you're having fun!

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you find something valuable, it must be turned over for documentation and recording. So, if you're on your own, and you find something you think is valuable, you need to register it (which is why I recommend a London Walks tour). Here is an accumulation of some of our finds. To each their own. What one person finds interesting, another may not.