People used to pay for the right to sort through rubbish for objects they could use and sell. That changed in the late 19th c. London boroughs sent rubbish east to fill marshland beside the Thames in Kent and Essex and these landfill sites are now eroding onto the foreshore.

19th c glass sugar crusher from the time when sugar came in hard cones and pieces were broken off with sugar nips. The chunks still needed help to dissolve in the teacup so these miniature pestles to broke up the lumps of sugar inside the cup. #mudlarking #mudlark #LondonMudlark