Mudlarking on the Thames with CUT/HALF and HAMMERRHOID

[galoshers]

just as a note most of the old hands experienced diggers would never dig on the southside as finds were too sparse due to less foot traffic ,they always stuck to the north bank and hammered it for decades .
that coincides between the city walls at Blackfriars and Tower of London.
socially speaking the population on the south bank was small and not too well off to lose anything of value .
whereas on the north bank the citizens had more cash in their purse and lost more items of value over the millenia .
wealthy traders on visits to london via ship were likely to lose stuff.
of the hoards found on the north bank foreshore  ,there were around 15 dug up ,whereas no hoards were ever dug up on the southside.
the south bank had the pubs brothels and theatres and bear baiting to which Londoners went in the evenings for R&R by taking a ferry across the river.
these were outside the jurisdiction of the London council of the time.

[Neil]

Now this is a mudlark pit!

I think this is probably the sort of scene you mentioned in a previous post Galoshers.

[galoshers]

is that an old photo ?
i am sure i know those 2 gents

looks like Tony on the right and Ian in the hole.
Tony has now given up as he has had a stroke and cant get out .

[cardiffian]

is that an old photo ?
i am sure i know those 2 gents

looks like Tony on the right and Ian in the hole.
Tony has now given up as he has had a stroke and cant get out .

About 7 years ago there was a guy who was briefly a member of the Yeovil MDC. He used to be a mudlarker and brought in some displays of finds to be recorded by Brian Read. If I remember rightly they consisted in the main of thimbles, hooked fasteners and buttons. The quality of some of these finds was truly amazing. I don't know whether you will know the guy Galoshers. His name was Ken Bellringer. No puns please, on does the name ring any bells etc.

[galoshers]

yes i used to know ken before he moved out of London .
he used to do mostly surface detecting dont think he was a big hole digger.

the gents in the hole pictured above is taken after the regs were changed to dig and fill hole in 1 day .
hence its not very big.
prior to that diggers would dig a monster hole over say a week or 2 ,cover it over with scaffolding poles and sheet corrugated metal and rocks on top .

then come back the next day empty out the hole of water and mud and carry on digging deeper and wider .they used buckets to empty the hole .
after a while it got too big to empty out !so they called it a day and filled it in.
and moved along and started another hole .
a few guys had water pumps to empty the holes but they clogged up due the heavy mud.
some had ladders to get in and out of hole, i had a surveyors plug together alu ladder .
the museum and PLA put a stop to monster holes as they said they were dangerous ,(health and safety etc) so enacted a 1 meter deep and dig and fill in in one day ,
some holes were left uncovered and walkers along the forshore fell in up to their armpits as it wasnt apparent they were like quicksand as you walked over them.
this was a great source of laughter and hilarity for the diggers who hauled people out of holes.
some didnt fill in their monster holes and they would take a few weeks to solidify and harden up leaving dangerous holes a person could sink into  

[galoshers]

the biggest hole i ever saw was dug by Fred a dodgy antiques dealer from south London .for 2 weeks him and his sons  labored over the 7 feet deep oblong hole which was eventually big enough to hold 2 mini cars stacked on top of each other . eventually it was too big to empty it out even with 3 of them working on it inc a pump.
so they filled it in. Fred used to make a few pilgrim badges on the side .when someone found a choice large Becket badge he would pay them some cash to take an impression then make a few more.
its rumored his badges are on display in US museums .

[galoshers]

^^Tony pictured standing round the hole amassed a collection of early lead toys over 30 years which he sold to the London Museum ,although the PAS report says he gave them to the museum he got 24,000 for the collection.
he swapped most of them with other diggers for coins etc.
Theres 2 publications of the toy collection ,one by Hazel Forsythe (Toys,trifles and trinkets ) and another small booklet by Johnathan Horne the antique dealer who had a small exhibition at his shop before they went to the museum. 
His collection of 5000 lead tokens he gave to the BM .

[galoshers]

i am chatting to other old hands working on a list of hoards found in the thames ,although they were lost and not buried
,they just fell overboard in some accident or a lost purse etc

[herbie]

Fascinating reading Galoshers, would love to have a go, even just surface / eyes only hunting.

[galoshers]

after picking some brains on hoards from the Thames this is what i came up with , this was from the 80s and 90s .
some details are not sure about ...as other diggers didn't advertise their business in the 80s it was all very hush hush
and they might not divulge to anybody for months ,  if ever .


100 tin 1/4 and 1/2 coins of James II and William and Mary in nice condition ,the river silt gives them a nice blue patina
120 William III halfpennies and 3 hammered of Mary and Charles I
3 gold guineas and 2 half guineas
100 medieval hammered  pennies which turned out to be forgeries
40 eddy I and 2 groats and a few hammered Irish coins
a hoard of late 17th century Javanese coins
hoard of 30 tin 1/4 and 1/2 of James II and William and Mary in uncirculated condition (found by well known dealer)
4  Portuguese gold coins of mid 18th century
hoard of hammered silver very clipped
small hoard of Charles I half crowns and James Crowns
20 gold coins of Henry VIII varying denominations
6 gold coins of Henry VIII in a different place ,various

and the biggest of the lot 400 crowns and half crowns of Commonwealth and Charles I found underneath Blackfriars bridge by a member named Yorkie who was doing the surface with his machine ,we had all looked there but he struck lucky between the scaffolding tubes and huge pieces of concrete ,the tide was coming in so he called the 2 guys pictured above to help him get the coins out fast ,but he had to go back the next day to get the rest as the area was covered by water. The BM acquired a few of the rare dated commonwealth coins and the rest were sold off,some were heavily corroded by the black silt so not worth a lot .
no doubt there are other hoards that have been forgotten about or we dont know about .
the tin coins were the most valuable as they were in very nice condition and worth more than gold coins.
all found on the north side of the thames ,no hoards from the south side we know about .

[galoshers]

another major find from the north side ,sold to the London Museum for 15,000 in the late 80s .finder bought his council  house with the money

http://archive.museumoflondon.org.uk/medieval/objects/image.htm?rid=56397&size=3&pid=4&oid=30441

[galoshers]

gold chain trapped in a lump of concretion

[galoshers]

when Tony standing round the hole above ^ dug up his 17th century silver sweetmeat dish ,he kept it quiet for about 9 months !we knew that something big had been found but didn't know the details .Finally he came clean when he announced the London Museum had bought it and its now on display in a cabinet of artifacts from the period ,but that was a fair while after the deal was done until we got the full details .
thats the way it was then diggers kept their finds hush hush ..

[galoshers]

here is a French sword blade i found just sticking up out of the mud still in its scabbard !i was checking an  area where few ever tread .the scabbard which was rotten  got trashed trying to remove it as they were welded together .and when it came out the blade was in very good condition with the edge as sharp as when it was made .
however regular digs around where it came out failed to turn up the hilt .i tried many holes and nothing -the hilt was lost .
it has a French makers mark and the date 1827 .
36 inches long +  6 inches for the tang part

the missing hilt bugs me as it should have been there somewhere but just could not find that hilt ...gggrrrr

[Neil]

Nice find Galoshers - I'm enjoying your mud larking tales and finds.

Keep them coming.