Secrets of the Thames: Riverside curiosities you’ve probably never noticed

At 184 miles long, the Thames Path is the longest riverside walk in Europe. Its route takes you past some of London’s best-known landmarks, including the former Royal Naval College at Greenwich, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.

The riverside also features lesser-known and easily missed sites that each have their part to play in the story of London’s maritime past.

For the more hands-on explorers, scraping around in the mud of the Thames foreshore might afford an opportunity to uncover historical artefacts such as tools, pottery and smoking pipes that have been discarded over the centuries.

But if “mudlarking” isn’t your thing, keep an eye out for some of the fascinating sites in the gallery above.