A young lad fascinated by historical artefacts spends hours a day up to his knees in mud looking for forgotten treasures.

But it isn’t just Victorian glassware that 17-year-old Adam Gates has discovered – the mudlarking youngster has even discovered discarded modern firearms hidden in Sittingbourne’s murky waterways.

The former Sittingbourne School pupil, now known to his thousands of followers as The Victorian Mudlark, began his muddy hobby in 2019.

A mudlark, a name coined in the 18th and 19th centuries, is someone who looks for items such as old coins, pottery and artefacts in river mud.

Adam, who lives in the Sonora Fields estate near Bobbing, said: “I go mudlarking in all the creeks in and around Sittingbourne. I manage to find something of value every time I go.

“I share what I find along the creeks of Kent on Facebook and YouTube and have lots of followers.

“My oldest find is my post-medieval pewter tankard which I found along the banks of Milton Creek.

“It's still got the original maker's initials on it. It's just amazing really. I’ve also found pipes and sometimes the occasional coin if I’m lucky.”

But it isn’t just ancient drinkware that Adam has found, he’s also managed to stumble across some items that he probably really shouldn’t have.

He explained: “I recently found a gun in Milton Creek. It was a nine-millimetre pistol which had ended up under a bridge.

“That was a crazy experience. It was laying there on the surface, but I dug it out slightly because I saw the handle, I thought it could be something interesting so I began to dig it out, and it turned out to be a gun.

“I immediately called the police and they came out to see me before they called the firearms unit to come and dispose of it.”

Adam’s love for mudlarking began after he discovered the community online.

“I saw some videos online and I thought that it sounded fun.

“So I went down to one of the creeks near the Eurolink Industrial Park and decided to have a look at it and here I am today with all this lovely goodness,” Adam explained.

The creeks by the old brickworks in Sittingbourne are known for being good mudlarking spots due to their old use in the 1800s.

Adam said: “In the Victorian times, and I'm talking the late 1800s, barges used to go from the creek to deliver bricks to London and on their way back, they bought all the London rubbish to build up the banks here.

“It now erodes at every high tide and reveals more treasures. That's why the creek is littered with rubbish.”

Adam describes himself as being like “an old person stuck in a young person's body”. However, he’s had to learn his facts as he’s gone along.

During lockdown the teen used to mudlark every day for hours and over the last four years he’s found fragile pipes, coins, rare blue glass bottles labelled as being used for poison and even a Victorian child’s shoe.

He’s also been asked to do numerous exhibitions and talks about his finds at Milton Creek country park and at the Murston Heart exhibition.

Adam added: “I think what I do is a great way to share with people what is actually in the creeks and rivers, and what to show them what people used to use for everyday essentials.

“I have found numerous things such as Victorian glass and stone bottles, coins and 1600 to 1880-dated clay tobacco pipes with numerous markings and designs.

“It’s all brilliant and to think every find has a story is even more incredible.

“When I pick these items up I feel like I have brought so many smiles back alive which were hidden in the black stinking river for so many years.”

Adam claims he never used to like history when learning about it at school – but now he can’t get enough of it.

“I despised history, but when I started to mudlark I started liking it more and more.

“I get to see these personal artefacts which we used back in the day,” he explained.

To get them back to their former glory Adam rinses his finds in a bucket of bleach solution for a few days before giving them a final wash.

He said: “They don't always scrub up well unfortunately because some of the ground is very acidic, and it causes the bottle to go sick. That means the glass goes blurry. So it’s not always in the best condition but the history is still there.

“The mudlarking community is very, very big. So big that the Port of London Authority (PLA) has decided to ban new permit holders for the River Thames, but it's a fantastic community and everybody's so friendly.”

Although you don’t need a permit to mudlark along all rivers and creeks in Kent the PLA does have jurisdiction over mudlarking on the River Thames.

On its website, the PLA explains Thames foreshore permits are not currently available in order to protect its unique historical integrity.

Adam added: “If you're looking at getting into mudlarking make sure you have somebody to go with, charge your phone, have a decent pair of welly boots, decent clothing, and I'd recommend waterproofs for the winter months.

“Oh, and don't get stuck in the mud! It’s happened to me many times and I’ve had to crawl my way out!”

To learn more about Adam’s finds search The Victorian Mudlark on Facebook and Twitter.