Unveiled on the 26th. March 2010.
By the
Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Cllr. Terry Hall assisted by Cllr. Mike Hancock MP.

Back in 2004 Michael was approached by Mrs Margaret Foster, who was was elected to the
council and Charles Dickens ward in 2004. To put forward ideas, with regard to a sculpture
to commemorate "The Mudlarks". After undergoing a selection process, Michael received the
commission in December 2008 for "The Mudlarks", and work began in January 2009.

Mud-larking was a tradition in Portsmouth for many years. Mudlarks were people of various
ages, who foraged for coins thrown into the mud for them, by passers by. These "pennies"
formed a welcome addition to the family incomes in some of the poorer families, but children
of better-off families got into big trouble with their parents it they were caught returning
home with evidence of mud-larking about them!

A plaque to the Mudlarks had been in the pavement at The Hard for sometime, as this was
where "The Mudlarking" took place. The Sculpture, "The Mudlarks" by Michael Peacock, is
sited near this plaque. The Mudlarks is of two life size figures; a young man standing,gazing
out to sea, with a pot of pennies in his hand, and a young girl kneeing in the mud,
holding up a penny to him, that she has just found.

Starting with a wood and wire mesh armature, the sculpture was built up in layers using
plaster bandage and the final surface modelled up in fine plaster.

Cast in bronze by Morris Singer foundry in Braintree, Essex, the sculpture provides a
permanent reminder of an old Portsmouth tradition.