This is a story about a big dream, a brilliant engineer, a pioneering achievement and a surprise ending after a surprising failure. You could make a movie out of that! And it begins deep down in the picture above.
The Thames Tunnel, which opened in 1843, was the biggest project of pioneering engineer Marc Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was the first, and for quite a while the longest underwater tunnel in the world. It was the first tunnel bored using a boring shield. It was planned to revolutionize commerce in the Port of London.
London’s busy port was clogged with shipping in the 1820s, and freight was carried across the river in small boats. Brunel proposed the tunnel as a way for horse-drawn wagons to cross under the river handling the cargo more efficiently. Unfortunately, by the time it opened, fifteen years late, steam launches were handling the cargo, and the tunnel builders had no funds to build the spiral roadways that would have allowed wagons to reach the tunnel under the river.
Instead, it opened as a pedestrian tunnel, charging a penny per person to walk under the river; once the initial attraction wore off, operators juiced up the business with elaborate frescoes on the walls and by turning the tunnel into an event venue for public and private events of all sorts.
And then the surprise ending. In the 1860s, London was building its first underground railroads to link its railway terminals, and the Thames Tunnel from Rotherhithe on the south bank to Wapping on the north found its ‘forever’ life as a railroad tunnel.
The Rotherhithe station on what is now a line of the London Overgeround is the best way to get to the Brunel Museum, which is on the site of the tunnel’s original works. On the way down to the platform you can see a commemorative plaque; the wall it is mounted on is part of the outside wall of the tunnel shaft.
The title image and the two above are inside the shaft that was originally sunk to allow access to the layers of clay and earth under the river; the floor of this room is actually now the roof of the tunnel, with trains running underneath, and is where Brunel Museum guides tell the story.
Next to the shaft is the engine room for the pumps that kept the tunnel dry; it now serves as an exhibit area and gift shop for the museum. The pumps were needed because the river is always trying to find its way through the porous layers through which the tunnel was bored. A pair of the original pumps are mounted outside.
Brunel’s plan was simple but revolutionary. To get down to the underwater workface, he had a huge iron ring built on the site, knowing it would slowly sink into the soft soil in the area. Then, to add weight bricks were built up on top of it—seven million of them—until the shaft reached the necessary depth; a crane lifted out dirt as the ring sank. The green structure above is the top of that shaft; the original ring itself is buried in the earth below the working level of the tunnel.
At the working face, under the river, workers, one in each of the compartments of the tunnel-boring shield (above), cut into the workface, dumping spoil behind to be moved by others back to the shaft. Behind them, masons were at work creating the brick arches lining the tunnel.
But as ingenious as all that was, it didn’t guarantee against disaster; fires and floods occurred, sometimes simultaneously. Work began in 1825, stopped after a flood in 1828, restarted and stopped several times because of floods and financial troubles. It took until 1843 before it could open. Shortly before its opening, Queen Victoria paid a visit.
When it became a railroad tunnel, the shaft became a ventilation shaft for the steam trains; the elaborate stairways, whose ‘ghosts’ you can see on the walls above. The floor you see above and the ‘hanging stairway’ that gives access to the space were added in 2011 and 2016, in preparation for opening the museum.
This elaborate model of the tunnel has a place of honor in the engine house; it’s designed to be viewed from the end, with an upper view of the Thames and ships and the lower view appearing to look through the tunnel. George G recognized it as our One-Clue Mystery.
And, like all museums, the Brunel Museum has a gift shop…
Of course, there’s more Brunel at the museum than the Thames Tunnel; exhibits also cover Marc Brunel’s life as a refugee from France who became New York City’s Chief Engineer before heading for Britain; his work includes a wide variety of engineering innovations, many still in use. His son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, completed the tunnel and was the designer and engineer for some of Britain’s most important bridges and ships, as well as Paddington Station in London.
A very interesting piece! I knew absolutely nothing about this tunnel – indeed I had never even heard of it.