Lara Maiklem

I am a mudlark. I wanders the shores of the River Thames at low tide searching for lost and forgotten objects that tell tales of the past and bring forgotten Londoners to life. I never digs or use a metal detector and I often walk little more than a mile in 5 hours, yet I can travel 2,000 years back in time through the objects that are revealed by the tide: prehistoric flint tools, medieval pilgrim badges, Tudor shoes, Georgian wig curlers and Victorian pottery, ordinary objects left behind by the ordinary people who made London what it is today.

I began mudlarking almost 25 years ago and in 2012, I became the first person to share mudlarking with the world on social media as ‘The London Mudlark’. What began as an anonymous time filler between feeding, burping and changing baby twins quickly attracted followers and I have now written four award-winning, bestselling books.

In 2026 I was made Mudlark in Residence at Southwark Cathedral, I am also a brother of the Artworker's Guild, a ambassador for the River's Trust and in 2022 I became the first mudlark to be made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in recognition of my work in increasing public knowledge of mudlarking and Thames-found antiquities.

If you're interested in mudlarking without getting muddy, you can join over 350k other armchair mudlarks and follow my regular posts on social media:

Facebook: @LondonMudlark

Instgram: @london.mudlark

For more about me and my books, visit my website laramaiklem. com