Woman, 55, has spent 25 years hunting for treasure on banks of the Thames

She’s been made Britain’s first-ever ‘Mudlark-in-Residence’ after over two decades of treasure hunting

A woman has been appointed as Britain’s first-ever ‘Mudlark-in-Residence’ after 25 years of finding lost treasures. Lara Maiklem, 55, says she fell in love with the activity when she moved to Greenwich, south-east London, over two decades ago and started walking along the Thames riverbank.

Since then, she has found thousands of objects, most of which she stores in her guest bedroom as a mini museum. Standouts include a Tudor child’s shoes from the late 1500s, a Tudor dagger, Roman game counters, a complete Roman pot, and an early 18th-century wine bottle.

Now, Southwark Cathedral has appointed Lara as their ‘Mudlark-in-Residence’ – the first of this role thought to have ever existed in the UK. Mudlarking is the practice of searching riverbanks, especially along the Thames, for historical objects and treasures revealed by the mud at low tide.

Lara said: “It was a great honour when the cathedral said that they were going to honour the work that I had done. It is absolutely the first-ever permanent Mudlark-in-Residence. The display we have at Southwark is the only permanent display of mudlarking objects in the world. I think mudlarking has reached the public fairly recently, and it has been great sharing it with the wider public.”

The self-proclaimed history buff fell in love with the hobby instantly after finding her first item – a clay pipe stem. Lara then started posting on social media under The London Mudlark, claiming she was the first person to post their finds online in 2012.

She is the author of four books on mudlarking, including the Sunday Times bestseller Mudlarking, Lost and Found on the River Thames, and A Mudlarking Year, Finding Treasure in Every Season. The mum-of-two, who now lives on the Kent coast, says the river is her favourite place to be, and that the best objects to find are shoes as they are “so personal.”

She added: “I was just searching for somewhere quiet to go and I discovered the foreshore. It seemed like every time I went, I found something different. It is quite addictive mudlarking once you start. Going mudlarking and getting down on the river you are in another world. You are a lifetime away from all the chaos that is going on in the city.

“There is also this deep connection with the past that I can’t imagine you get with anything else. It is the closest thing I can imagine to time travel. You are actually reaching down and touching objects that haven’t been touched since the day they were lost. It is just incredible.”

Mudlarking requires a permit, and there are some strict rules about what you can do with what you find. Lara says you have to report anything over 300 years old to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and anything made of gold or silver has to be reported to a coroner. You are also not allowed to sell any of your discoveries, as they technically don’t belong to the finder, but the Port of London Authority.

The mum also has her own personal rules, where she never uses a metal detector, scrapes, or digs – only grabbing things that have been uncovered by the tide. She said: “Mudlarks will never get rich from what we are doing, and the items aren’t on the whole museum-worthy but they are everyday loved and worn objects.

“They all tell these stories of forgotten people, and those forgotten people are who we come from. The river will leave on every tide something different, you just need to have the patience and eventually you will find something.”

Lara has been working with Southwark Cathedral for around six years and has done several talks, fundraisers, and foreshore walks with them. She also helps to host a mudlarking festival every year, which will be later this month.

She said: “We have been slowly building up a mudlarking presence in the cathedral. It makes perfect sense. The cathedral is really old. There are a lot of firsts for Southwark Cathedral, which is brilliant because it is a very forward-thinking cathedral and they are always up for doing something different.”