Rare Doves Type Donated to Emery Walker’s House
Midnight mudlarking discovery made under Hammersmith Bridge
Jason Sandy donating Doves Type to curator Taryn Power at Emery Walker's House 2026. Picture: Lucinda MacPherson
May 15, 2026
A dramatic midnight search beneath Hammersmith Bridge has led to one of the most significant recent recoveries of the legendary Doves Type, after licensed mudlark and Chiswick resident Jason Sandy donated 50 rare pieces of the historic typeface to Emery Walker’s House.
The gift is one of the largest single contributions of original Doves Type in decades and returns fragments of the fabled typeface to the very house where it was created more than a century ago.
The Doves Type was designed in 1900 for the Doves Press by bookbinder T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and his business partner, printer and engraver Sir Emery Walker, who lived at 7 Hammersmith Terrace. Celebrated as one of the finest achievements of the Arts and Crafts movement, the typeface became the centre of one of printing history’s most notorious disputes.
When the partnership collapsed in 1909, Cobden-Sanderson vowed that Walker would never control the type. Between 1916 and 1917, he carried out a series of clandestine nighttime trips to Hammersmith Bridge, throwing more than a ton of type and matrices into the Thames. For nearly a century, the typeface was believed lost forever.
Fragments only began to reappear when mudlarks and archaeologists started recovering pieces from the riverbed in the 21st century.
Doves Type found by Jason Sandy. Picture: Jason Sandy
Jason Sandy’s discovery came during an exceptionally low tide in September 2025.
“It was a warm, late summer night as I stood on the dark and deserted foreshore under Hammersmith Bridge,” he recalled. “Low tide was at 12.30am… Following the recent removal of ‘Wet Wipe Island’, the tide dropped lower than expected, and many pieces of the elusive Doves Type appeared.”
Crawling across the exposed riverbed with a headtorch, he collected 41 pieces — but the night took an unexpected turn.
“I didn’t realise someone was watching me from the bridge above,” he said. “A short time later, three police cars arrived… A policeman scurried down the riverbank and asked what I was doing.”
With Hammersmith Bridge historically targeted by IRA bombs and still closed to vehicles due to structural instability, officers were keen to ensure nothing suspicious was happening beneath it.
After Sandy explained that he was a licensed mudlark operating legally under a Port of London Authority permit, the mood shifted.
“I showed him the Doves Type I had found and told him the intriguing story. The police officer smiled, realising I was doing nothing mischievous… As I was leaving, I passed five other officers next to their cars with blue lights still flashing. It was a night I will never forget.”
Jason has now donated 50 pieces of the type to the Emery Walker Trust, which manages the meticulously preserved Arts & Crafts home at 7 Hammersmith Terrace — the former residence of both Walker and Cobden-Sanderson.
The donation strengthens the museum’s collection and helps illuminate one of London’s most compelling cultural stories: a tale of artistic brilliance, personal betrayal and the secrets hidden beneath the Thames.
Emery Walker’s House, considered one of the most authentic Arts & Crafts interiors in the world, is open by pre-booked guided tour only.
More information: emerywalker.org.uk/visit
The Emery Walker Trust, a registered charity, continues its mission to preserve the house and open it to as many people as possible.
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