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This small museum celebrates
the construction of Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel to be
constructed under a river. The
exhibition is in the original engine house for the steam engines
that drained the 19th century tunnel.
Running from Rotherhithe to Wapping,
the tunnel was designed and built by Sir Marc Brunel, father
of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The talented French-English
engineer devised the unique tunnelling shield which enabled
workers to dig through the soft sediment under the river.
This system pioneered techniques still used in modern tunnel
building.
However, Brunel had no business
sense and had to be hauled out of debtor's prison by the Duke
of Wellington to start work on the tunnel. The work
took 18 years, between 1825 - 1843, and nearly ended on five
occasions when the roof caved in. After his father fell
ill, Isambard Kingdom Brunel completed the work, his first
project.
The project was designed for
pedestrian and road traffic, with two parallel tunnels, but
today the tunnel is used by the London Underground system,
linking Rotherhithe station with Wapping, on the north bank
of the Thames. The Rotherhithe Road Tunnel that runs
adjacent to it, this was built for road traffic in 1908.
The museum has a collection of
illustrations and models detailing the work of Sir Marc Brunel,
including a working horizontal V steam pumping engine built
by John Rennie, who constructed engines for the tunnel project.
Illustrations show the project's
many problems and mishaps, including accidents and floodings.
However, the celebrations are also shown, including the
banquet held inside the tunnel on 10 November 1827.
Admission charge
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Rotherhithe
