Germander Speedwell
@germanderspeedwell.bsky.social
Gatherer of lost knowledge
Explorer of Thames foreshores
Assembler of obscure collections
And observer of flora and fauna.
London, England
www.germanderspeedwell.org.uk
No direct messages sorry - I can't access them; please email me (see my website).
Explorer of Thames foreshores
Assembler of obscure collections
And observer of flora and fauna.
London, England
www.germanderspeedwell.org.uk
No direct messages sorry - I can't access them; please email me (see my website).
A delightful find, sitting on the shingle waiting for me! It's a broken tree trunk / stump pipe, known at the time as a 'rustic' design. There were many variations, but this flat-based one is more unusual; this will date from the mid 1800s to early 1900s.
November 26, 2025 at 8:41 AM
A delightful find, sitting on the shingle waiting for me! It's a broken tree trunk / stump pipe, known at the time as a 'rustic' design. There were many variations, but this flat-based one is more unusual; this will date from the mid 1800s to early 1900s.
Here's a couple of 20th century fragments recently found on the foreshore: part of a lovely hand-painted tile, and a very curious large piece depicting an insect landing on something I can't quite identify! This was probably from a jug or vase; the style of decoration is particularly unusual.
November 23, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Here's a couple of 20th century fragments recently found on the foreshore: part of a lovely hand-painted tile, and a very curious large piece depicting an insect landing on something I can't quite identify! This was probably from a jug or vase; the style of decoration is particularly unusual.
... so, those bottles of mineral water were almost certainly drunk at the smallpox receiving station in the early 1880s. As such, they join the collection of bottles and other artefacts that I've been assembling in this display cabinet of the site's history at @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social !
November 22, 2025 at 9:17 AM
... so, those bottles of mineral water were almost certainly drunk at the smallpox receiving station in the early 1880s. As such, they join the collection of bottles and other artefacts that I've been assembling in this display cabinet of the site's history at @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social !
... it's the same patch where I find all the crockery fragments from the Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) smallpox receiving station formerly on the @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social site. When researching the maker, R. Pyle, I discovered they were a regular supplier to the MAB in the early 1880s! ....
November 22, 2025 at 9:12 AM
... it's the same patch where I find all the crockery fragments from the Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) smallpox receiving station formerly on the @surreydocksfarm.bsky.social site. When researching the maker, R. Pyle, I discovered they were a regular supplier to the MAB in the early 1880s! ....
... when I mentioned these finds to mudlark Carol, who also checks the same patch, she revealed that she'd also found a broken one of this same design in the same patch! So, three bottles of the same design, in the same patch. And that patch has a significance...
November 22, 2025 at 9:08 AM
... when I mentioned these finds to mudlark Carol, who also checks the same patch, she revealed that she'd also found a broken one of this same design in the same patch! So, three bottles of the same design, in the same patch. And that patch has a significance...
... the figure is sitting against a milepost, with a tiny church in the distance - it's Dick Whittington! On Highgate Hill, about to leave London, but called back by the bells of Bow church. (I didn't work this out by myself - the wording actually says Dick Whittington above the image) ...
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 AM
... the figure is sitting against a milepost, with a tiny church in the distance - it's Dick Whittington! On Highgate Hill, about to leave London, but called back by the bells of Bow church. (I didn't work this out by myself - the wording actually says Dick Whittington above the image) ...
... here it is clean. I was now able to identify it as a mineral water bottle from producer R. Pyle, of Hollingsworth St, Islington, dating from the 1880s. But the exciting bit was identifying that curious seated figure depicted on the bottle...
November 22, 2025 at 8:57 AM
... here it is clean. I was now able to identify it as a mineral water bottle from producer R. Pyle, of Hollingsworth St, Islington, dating from the 1880s. But the exciting bit was identifying that curious seated figure depicted on the bottle...
... a complete codd bottle - of the same design! And this one was a lot clearer and would be easier to identify.
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
November 22, 2025 at 8:53 AM
... a complete codd bottle - of the same design! And this one was a lot clearer and would be easier to identify.
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
It was a lot of work to clean out all the mud inside, and in the process the lovely blue colour is lost, because that's the colour of the iridescence against the dark mud....
... another bottle - in the same patch. But would it be complete? I wish I'd filmed the extraction, because once I'd moved the stones above it, it came out easily in one go, and it was a beauty...
November 22, 2025 at 8:49 AM
... another bottle - in the same patch. But would it be complete? I wish I'd filmed the extraction, because once I'd moved the stones above it, it came out easily in one go, and it was a beauty...
.... here it is excavated. It's a codd bottle, broken at the neck (as they often are) but I was intrigued by the figure. The lettering was very difficult to read, and I was still in the process of trying to identify it when two weeks later, I found the following...
November 22, 2025 at 8:47 AM
.... here it is excavated. It's a codd bottle, broken at the neck (as they often are) but I was intrigued by the figure. The lettering was very difficult to read, and I was still in the process of trying to identify it when two weeks later, I found the following...
Here's a longish thread about what turned out to be one of my favourite foreshore finds of the year... It started when I spotted this bottle. Another mudlark had just walked over that patch - did they not see it, or were they just uninterested in bottles? Or was it simply meant for me? Contd...
November 22, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Here's a longish thread about what turned out to be one of my favourite foreshore finds of the year... It started when I spotted this bottle. Another mudlark had just walked over that patch - did they not see it, or were they just uninterested in bottles? Or was it simply meant for me? Contd...
2/2: It's the tiniest china marble I've ever found - and to show you, the picture on the right shows it next to a standard size marble and my largest one!
November 20, 2025 at 8:34 AM
2/2: It's the tiniest china marble I've ever found - and to show you, the picture on the right shows it next to a standard size marble and my largest one!
1/2: What's this? It's a tiny china marble! It's a bit faded from rolling about in the river, but you can still see the coloured circles.
China marbles are hand-painted ceramic marbles made in Germany in the 1800s and widely exported - they're quite collectable now! Follow the thread to compare...
China marbles are hand-painted ceramic marbles made in Germany in the 1800s and widely exported - they're quite collectable now! Follow the thread to compare...
November 20, 2025 at 8:30 AM
1/2: What's this? It's a tiny china marble! It's a bit faded from rolling about in the river, but you can still see the coloured circles.
China marbles are hand-painted ceramic marbles made in Germany in the 1800s and widely exported - they're quite collectable now! Follow the thread to compare...
China marbles are hand-painted ceramic marbles made in Germany in the 1800s and widely exported - they're quite collectable now! Follow the thread to compare...
2/2: This is the one that I found last year - it has more face, but less stem. And there is debate as to whether this depicts a fox or a boar - it has boar-like ears, and the tiniest suggestion of tusks, but otherwise the impression is more foxy. Who knows what the maker intended!
November 19, 2025 at 8:11 AM
2/2: This is the one that I found last year - it has more face, but less stem. And there is debate as to whether this depicts a fox or a boar - it has boar-like ears, and the tiniest suggestion of tusks, but otherwise the impression is more foxy. Who knows what the maker intended!
1/2: Spotted an unusually shaped broken clay pipe on the foreshore - and picked it up to discover it's a fox face design! I recognised it immediately, as I found another broken one last year. The maker (on the stem) is Daniel Hall of Southwark. Follow the thread to compare with my other one...
November 19, 2025 at 8:04 AM
1/2: Spotted an unusually shaped broken clay pipe on the foreshore - and picked it up to discover it's a fox face design! I recognised it immediately, as I found another broken one last year. The maker (on the stem) is Daniel Hall of Southwark. Follow the thread to compare with my other one...
2/2: ... so I was very surprised to see it was a chunk of Willow Pattern! It's as thick as a tile, but it has grooves; I was mystified until someone identified it as a serving platter/meat carving platter - the grooves are gullies for draining the juice!
November 17, 2025 at 8:50 AM
2/2: ... so I was very surprised to see it was a chunk of Willow Pattern! It's as thick as a tile, but it has grooves; I was mystified until someone identified it as a serving platter/meat carving platter - the grooves are gullies for draining the juice!
1/2: Spotted a very large piece of china lying face-down on the Thames foreshore - had to turn it over to check, though I thought it would just be a plain white piece...
November 17, 2025 at 8:44 AM
1/2: Spotted a very large piece of china lying face-down on the Thames foreshore - had to turn it over to check, though I thought it would just be a plain white piece...
2/2: The address is interesting: Temple Bar was in Fleet St, because that's where Temple Bar Gateway originally stood; it's now re-erected in Paternoster Square near St Pauls.
Isn't 'Refreshment Rooms' a delightful term for a cafe? if I was opening my own cafe, that's certainly what I'd call it!
Isn't 'Refreshment Rooms' a delightful term for a cafe? if I was opening my own cafe, that's certainly what I'd call it!
November 13, 2025 at 8:36 AM
2/2: The address is interesting: Temple Bar was in Fleet St, because that's where Temple Bar Gateway originally stood; it's now re-erected in Paternoster Square near St Pauls.
Isn't 'Refreshment Rooms' a delightful term for a cafe? if I was opening my own cafe, that's certainly what I'd call it!
Isn't 'Refreshment Rooms' a delightful term for a cafe? if I was opening my own cafe, that's certainly what I'd call it!
1/2: You don't often find a fragment on the foreshore with the complete name of the establishment! However, a quick look in the British Newspaper Archive produced surprisingly few mentions; they appear to have been a chain with several branches in central London, mostly active in the 1850s-60s...
November 13, 2025 at 8:29 AM
1/2: You don't often find a fragment on the foreshore with the complete name of the establishment! However, a quick look in the British Newspaper Archive produced surprisingly few mentions; they appear to have been a chain with several branches in central London, mostly active in the 1850s-60s...
These are my delftware / tin-glazed earthenware finds from the last few months; this type of pottery dates from the 1500s-1700s. It's quite common on the Thames foreshore, but these days I only keep the ones with the more complex designs or rich colours, or from specific sites of interest.
November 7, 2025 at 8:23 AM
These are my delftware / tin-glazed earthenware finds from the last few months; this type of pottery dates from the 1500s-1700s. It's quite common on the Thames foreshore, but these days I only keep the ones with the more complex designs or rich colours, or from specific sites of interest.
3/3: And here it is after a proper clean. It has a lovely thick layer of glaze, and is pleasingly wonky and imperfect - with lots of little smudges and marks from hasty handling by the potter.
November 5, 2025 at 8:10 AM
3/3: And here it is after a proper clean. It has a lovely thick layer of glaze, and is pleasingly wonky and imperfect - with lots of little smudges and marks from hasty handling by the potter.
2/3: Ah - it's a little inkwell! And I was right, it's complete and perfect. I've been told that these white inkwells were used for red ink; they're certainly a lot rarer than brown ones - this is only the second white one I've found, whereas I've found 17 brown ones.
November 5, 2025 at 8:07 AM
2/3: Ah - it's a little inkwell! And I was right, it's complete and perfect. I've been told that these white inkwells were used for red ink; they're certainly a lot rarer than brown ones - this is only the second white one I've found, whereas I've found 17 brown ones.
1/3: Aha - part of a white stoneware pot showing through the mud of the Thames foreshore... Because its lip was intact (the most vulnerable part) I was quite sure that this was going to be complete, whatever it was...
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
1/3: Aha - part of a white stoneware pot showing through the mud of the Thames foreshore... Because its lip was intact (the most vulnerable part) I was quite sure that this was going to be complete, whatever it was...
3/4: And the name 'tavern' is misleading - it was actually more of a banqueting hall, as this image shows. I didn't even need to research it myself, for the work had already been done by Matt of @londonist.com , who wrote this highly engaging article all about it: londonist.com/london/histo...
November 4, 2025 at 8:21 AM
3/4: And the name 'tavern' is misleading - it was actually more of a banqueting hall, as this image shows. I didn't even need to research it myself, for the work had already been done by Matt of @londonist.com , who wrote this highly engaging article all about it: londonist.com/london/histo...
2/4: But I did look it up - and how wrong I was! The London Tavern (or City of London Tavern) in Bishopsgate was a London institution. It was a meeting place for important events and causes - the RNLI was founded here, the Thames Tunnel was first proposed in a public meeting here, and much more...
November 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
2/4: But I did look it up - and how wrong I was! The London Tavern (or City of London Tavern) in Bishopsgate was a London institution. It was a meeting place for important events and causes - the RNLI was founded here, the Thames Tunnel was first proposed in a public meeting here, and much more...