‘There they are, and there they will be, while tides rise and fall, and there is a pennyworth of anything to be found for the seeking on the river shore.’
So wrote journalist James Greenwood in 1867 of the mudlarks he encountered scavenging the River Thames at low tide. Today, new generations of Londoners search the foreshore for objects buried in the mud and, through meticulous research, bring their forgotten histories back to life.
Immerse yourself in this timeless and magical landscape in a special event at one of Two Temple Place, one of London’s hidden architectural gems. Cecilia Knapp is the first poet to be appointed to celebrate London’s bridges in verse; she performs new poems inspired by the iconic bridges that span the river, as well as by the mudlarks who search the riverbed at low tide. Novelist and Thames mudlark Jessie Burton shares her passion for discovering things on the foreshore and reads from her children’s adventure story Hidden Treasure. And poet and artist Abondance Matanda performs a new commission inspired by a West African power figure – a Nkisi Kozo – found in the river by mudlark Nicola White; she draws on her Congolese heritage to trace this beguiling object’s journey across the ocean. Curated and hosted by mudlark and author of London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City, Tom Chivers, and all woven together by riotously joyful songs by one of London’s most exciting new folk collectives.
Lost & Found is a Thames Festival Trust project made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The event is supported by City Bridge Foundation, a 900-year-old charity which looks after five Thames bridges at no cost to the taxpayer and London’s biggest independent funder. The foundation is believed to be the only bridge owner to have its own poet-in-residence, Cecilia Knapp, appointed to celebrate in verse its bridges and funding work.
Artists
Jessie Burton is a licensed Thames mudlark and the multi-million best-selling author of four novels: The Miniaturist, The Muse, The Confession and The House of Fortune – all instant Sunday Times bestsellers. The Miniaturist was the National Book Awards Book of the Year, and Waterstones Book of the Year 2014, and in 2017 it was adapted as a BBC One miniseries. Her books for young readers include The Restless Girls, Medusa (shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal) and Hidden Treasure. She has written essays and reviews for The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar UK, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Elle and The Independent.
Tom Chivers is the author of London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City (Penguin, 2021) and a licensed Thames mudlark. As heritage project manager at Thames Festival Trust, he has been leading on Lost & Found: a project to reveal untold histories of Deptford and Greenwich.
Cecilia Knapp is a poet and novelist and the Young People’s Laureate for London 2020/2021. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward prize for best single poem. Her debut poetry collection Peach Pig was published by Corsair in 2022. Her debut novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press. Her second novel Lack is forthcoming May 2026. She is the current poet in residence for The City Bridge Foundation.
Abondance Matanda is a young poet and artist of Ugandan and Congolese heritage who has been researching a beguiling object found by mudlark Nicola White on the Thames foreshore: a West African power figure called a Nkisi Kozo. In this new poetic commission Abondance will trace the Nkisi's journey across the ocean and the entangled relationship between West Africa and the Thames.
