Mudlarking and Heritage Craft Day

Join us at Southwark Cathedral for this day celebrating the River Thames and some of the crafts that helped build London.

There are many traditional skills and crafts that now have few people with a working knowledge of them. During this weekend we will bring together a range of craftspeople who practice different skills and offer the opportunity to see many skills first hand, with displays and demonstrations of the tools and skills needed for different crafts. Many of the crafts will be those listed in the Heritage Craft Association’s Red List of Endangered Crafts.

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about traditional crafts and ask the demonstrators questions.

The crafts being demonstrated will include:

Blacksmithing and Coppersmithing with Urban Crafts Foundation

Beekeeping with Bee Urban

Bee Skep making with Nick Dinsmore

Dyeing, Weaving and Spinning with the London Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers

Medieval Pilgrim Badge making Lionheart Replicas

Illuminated Manuscripts with iconographer Hanna Ward

Decorative Guilding with the City & Guilds School of Art

Stone and Wood carving with City & Guilds School of Art

Flint knapping with Jonathan Cope

On the same day we celebrate the River Thames and how it has formed the communities of London. We are delighted that several mudlarks, including best-selling author Lara Maiklem will be joining us and will be displaying their fascinating finds from the foreshore which are portals into the past and fragments of lives long forgotten.

Meet staff from the Society of Antiquities and find out about this charity that promotes the understanding of human past including their museum which is one of the oldest in the world!.

Find out about the archaeology and history of the river from the Thames Discovery Programme who aim to communicate an understanding and informed enjoyment of the historic Thames to the widest possible audience.

Speak to Thames foreshore archaeologists Fiona Haughey and Mike Webber and find out how the River Thames, London’s longest open-air archaeological site – provides evidence for past environments and structures from prehistory to the present

Get messy with acclaimed ceramic artist Raewyn Harrison making clay tiles and figurines, or have your face-painted. Great for the kids!

Join children's author and Carnegie medal-winner Katya Balen for a storytelling session on her recently published book for children The Thames and Tide Club : The Secret City.

Discover the colourful history of Southwark Cathedral by chatting to one of our knowledgeable guides and meet students on the Conservation BA course at the City and Guilds of London Art School who have been undertaking research projects at the Cathedral including the deterioration of the stone arcading and capitals, the presentation of the Medieval timber roof bosses and the conservation of the Sculpture of Shakespeare.

All of these wonder activities and demonstrations will be taking place in the Cathedral nave and Churchyard from 10am - 4pm so please do join us.