Mud larking

Mersea mud

I have always walked the mud flats around Essex ever since I was a boy. I used to find all sorts of things. /the usual Victoriana and clay pipes. Also bullets and shell cases from the second world war. However one day I fell upon an area of bits n bobs that all turned out to be roman in date. And from the pottery found there the nationality seemed to be Belgic as all the pottery was all black Belgic ware. As I understand it, the Belgica were basically running a ferry service between the European continent and the east coast of ancient Britain for anyone who paid for the service. I believe that the small area of items were possibly from a small wooden vessel-possibly wrecked there. As a result, I declared everything to the Receiver of wreck at the time and its all in the museums over there still to this day. This find was actually many years ago now but as Mud larking seems to be a popular past time nowadays- I just thought I would do a post about it too. I have been doing this hobby since I was a little kid, whether on the Thames or on holiday off Essex. Seems to be a winters only hobby for me now although I do a lot of beachcombing near my home when not diving. As soon as the tide had gone out I was out there leaving the other kids and my family laying on the beach. I would also be up in the early morning to go catch a low tide and that's real dedication from a young boy. Before anyone else in the caravan was even stirring, I was out there trudging around in the mud before breakfast. I just loved the solitude of it. The wildlife and the morning sun. Its the same feeling of solitude I get now when diving. 

Heres the intact roman period pot I found mudlarking now at Mersea Island museum.

More finds destined for the museum.

Larking on the mud off the Essex coast is not an easy thing. You have to learn to know where you can or cannot go. Otherwise you'll get stuck. I learnt the skill of reading the terrain over my childhood but still occasionally almost walk into trouble out there. Its easily done.  Evenso, I still keep a pair of wellies at my mums house in case when i visit theres a good low tide there. Im the same on land too. I walk the paths and fields and cant stop myself looking for things-even if its just to pick up a bit of pottery so i can identify and date it if possible.  Heres a classic example of how I am- I was walking with 6 others- mostly family members- along a public foot path. The was a bend in the path and I was -as ever- bringing up the rear. Everyone rounded the bend. As I got to it- I stopped. My mum, knowing what Im like asked -

Other items found together on the mud the time I found the pot above.

"what you seen this time?" Everyone then stopped as they had all stepped over the same piece of ground and not seen what I had seen. "Im not sure" -I replied-"but there's something down there"   Everyone had now grouped together to look at the ground. Not one person could see what I could see. "I dont see anything" said mum, as I bent down to investigate. Soon I had removed the top layer of earth to reveal what had caught my attention. I dug it out. It was a soldiers brass Shako hat regiment badge. Mum knew what I was like but still she was stunned. "How did you know it was there?" she asked as she looked at the badge after the earth was cleared off its surface. "The ground told me it was there" I answered, unable to properly explain it. "Well its not staying in my house!" she exclaimed-"I've got enough of your old rubbish already" She was referring to the old bottles and clay pipes etc etc I'd brought home to her over the years that I didnt want to take home as I too had lots of it all! I have numerous such stories like this.   For fun-I will relay two more funny ones here- One time I was walking around a field with a girlfriend. I was in my 20's. I was -as ever- looking at the ground.  "Why are you looking so hard at the ground here?" she asked, knowing it was a well ploughed field. "well you see the years of ploughing forces items over to the edges of fields-also its where people tend to walk and possibly drop things" I replied from experience. She was unconvinced-"There's nothing going to be here" she scoffed. My eyes did not look up, instead I just pointed to spot- something there at her very feet- "then whats that?" I quipped back. She bent down and picked up the object. It was a large copper coin dated 1797. I never said another word but as we walked on together- her eyes were now down to the ground as well looking for things with me.

More Roman Mud larking finds above. Roman Belgic ware & Burnished ware

Another time -years ago- I was with my wife along the coast here. Bored of sunbathing and reading my book I got up and said "Im off to look for stuff" hoping to find something along the shore-another old bottle or clay pipe-anything of interest really. In reply my wife suddenly said- "Well try and find something nice that I would like- like a blue bead!"  She had made the statement randomly, and I took no real notice of it. Well then the day took a turn for the surreal. About 15 minutes later, as I looked at the earth where I was at that moment- I spotted something- a tiny flash of blue. I went over and could straight away see it was made of blue glass. I picked it out of the ground.- And as god is my witness, I was utterly stunned to then be holding a blue glass bead about an inch in length. I recogonised it too- it was exactly of the type she and I had been picking up of a shipwreck over recent years. But unlike those on the wreck which had all been worn dull by the sand and sea- this one from the ground was perfect and still shiny just like new.  It must have been disguarded by someone who- i guess- had got it from the same wreck from the time the disaster had first happened. Here it had laid in the ground from then on. "She is not going to believe this!" I thought, as I went back to give it to her. Questions were indeed asked. She also chastised me saying I took it with me and that I'd had it all along. I convinced her of the truth. Firstly- I had no idea what she was going to request when I left to go hunting for junk. And secondly- In all the times we had dived the wreck and brought up the blue beads-among all the numerous blue beads we had found there-we had never once seen one in anything like this condition. Both things she knew to be true.  Later, once the RoW had handed us ownership to all those wreck beads- I had this one in this tale made into a necklace for her birthday. Since then other people have found beads while beachcombing here too. Mostly they are found on the beaches around our Town. The beads either come from the wreck at Wingletang at St Agnes, or they originated from the wreck we dive. They were all either dropped overboard as they were first brought ashore- or, as is just as likely, because our beaches are littered with much historic debris- they were thrown out with the rubbish. We have declared many such beads over the years and this one from the ground became included with those we found on the wreck. There couldn't be any other source for it -or could there?