‘The Eighth Wonder Of The World’: A Visit To The Brunel Museum

London has had many world firsts in its history, perhaps most notably, it was the first city in the world to develop an underground railway. A lesser-known ‘first’ however, is that it also had the world’s first tunnel under a navigable river.

The Thames Tunnel, that runs from Rotherhithe to Wapping, was designed by Marc Brunel and was described, by one observer as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. You may have even unwittingly travelled through it, as it is now part of the London Overground train system.

You can learn all about this astonishing feat of engineering at the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe. 

The Thames In 19th Century London

In the first couple of decades of the 19th century, London was rapidly on its way to becoming the largest city in the world. The Port of London was the busiest in the world with, at any one time, thousands of large merchant ships and even more smaller ships on the water.

The river was the city’s lifeblood but also a distinct impediment to traffic, people and goods going from one side of the river to the other. The nearest bridge to Rotherhithe on the South bank and Wapping on the North was the congested London Bridge. Watermen and ferrymen charged high prices, leading some to complain that it cost as much to transport goods from one side of the Thames to the other as from America to Britain. 

Up until 1750 London Bridge was the only crossing over the Thames in central London. It had been joined by other bridges further upstream such as Westminster Bridge (1750), Blackfriars Bridge (1769) and Southwark Bridge (1819), but any bridge further downstream would impede shipping. 

Enter, Marc Brunel, a French-émigré engineer, who had an idea.

The Lesser Known Brunel

Marc Brunel, as mentioned above is the father of the rather better known Isambard Kingdom Brunel. However, Marc had arguably a more interesting life and also achieved great things. Marc was born in Hacqueville, in Normandy, France in 1769. He spent six years in the French navy before returning to France in 1792, in the midst of their Revolution.

Marc was a staunch Royalist and ended up fleeing to the USA on a fake passport. He spent a few months with a couple of other Frenchmen, mapping an area of land in upstate New York and on the Canadian border, where he encountered bears and native Americans. 

It was then on to New York City where he worked on a number of projects, including one to build a canal from the Hudson River to Lake Champlain. He actually also submitted the design, that was originally chosen, for what became the Capitol Building in Washington DC. It was, however, never used. He became the Chief Engineer for New York City at the age of just 27. 

Settling In Britain

Marc Brunel set sail for Britain in 1799 and immediately set to work designing engineering solutions for the British Navy. He created very ‘successful machinery for mass-producing ships pulleys and soldier’s boots.

Six years earlier, when living in France, he had met an English lady called Sophia Kingdom. She was living there and learning French, but ended up being imprisoned as an English spy and only got back to England in 1795. In 1799, when they were both back in Britain, they married. They had three children together, Sophia, Emma and a son called Isambard. 

Isambard Kingdom Brunel went on to become one of the great engineers in Britain’s history, best known for designing the Great Western Railway, Clifton Suspension Bridge and steamships SS Great Britain, Great Eastern and Great Western.

Marc Brunel And The Thames Tunnel

There had been previous attempts to tunnel under the Thames. For example, from 1805-1809 a group of Cornish miners attempted and failed to dig a tunnel further upriver, under the instruction of Richard Trevithick, an inventor and engineer. However, they could not work out how to deal with the softer clay and sand, rather than hard rock they were used to. 

In 1818 Marc Brunel patented his tunneling shield. It was a shield of cast iron that allowed miners to work on the tunnel in separate compartments whilst holding up the tunnel as they went. It would then be cranked forward by large jacks and the tunnel surface reinforced with bricks.

Marc was convinced this could solve the problem of how to dig a tunnel under the Thames. He petitioned anyone and everyone with influence and money to sign up to form the Thames Tunnel Company, incorporated in June 1824. 

Work Begins

Work began on the tunnel in February 1825. A huge 50ft diameter shaft was sunk down into the ground in Rotherhithe and the tunnelling shield then assembled at the bottom. 

After a few months of digging, the resident engineer resigned and Marc Brunel appointed his nineteen year old son Isambard Kingdom Brunel into the post. It is safe to say he had his father’s persistence and ambition. So much so he would apparently often sleep down in the tunnel days on end to supervise the work.

Not A Smooth Process

Progress was then painfully slow. It also was not without its setbacks, with five floods between 1825-1843, claiming the lives of seven men. They had a major flood in 1827, after which Isambard immediately asked to be lowered to be riverbed in a diving bell to plug the leak. Isambard very nearly drowned himself during the flood of 1828. Explosions, roof collapse and poisonous gases were also hazards of the job. 

Interestingly, presumably as a bit of a publicity stunt and to give people confidence in the project, after the 1827 flood, Isambard Brunel hosted a banquet in tunnel. Many distinguished guests were invited, the tunnel was decorated and Coldstream guards provided music. 

The tunnel was actually sealed up and lay dormant for six years from 1828 when the company ran out of money. In 1834 the project received a loan from the government to continue. As the North shore was approached, another shaft was sunk in Wapping in 1840. 

The Tunnel Opens

Construction finally finished and the tunnel officially opened on the 25th March 1843. 

Due to the obstacles overcome and the sheer feat of engineering, it was described by William Drew, an American traveller, as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. Within a few months, a million had flocked to visit this marvel.

It had originally been intended as a tunnel for horse and carriages, but the project finished hugely in debt and the spiral roads to bring road traffic down were never put in. It was therefore used just as a pedestrian tunnel. The tunnel was a success in terms of the engineering, but financially it was a complete failure.

Lining the edge of the path were little alcoves, which were rented to stallholders to sell goods to passers by.

A ‘fancy fair’ was held on the anniversary of it opening every year. The fair cost a penny to get in, went on for a week and you could see all sorts of entertainments from sword swallowers to acrobats, portrait paintings and even experience a machine giving electric shocks.

Thames Tunnel themed souvenirs were sold and became popular. Tourist tat is not a recent invention!

From Walkway To Railway

It operated like this for just over twenty years before being sold to the East London Railway Company to carry passengers under the river by steam train.

The Wapping shaft was repurposed as Wapping Station. 

Today it is part of the, not very accurately named in this case, Overground train system. This line today is specifically now known as the Windrush Line, running from Highbury and Islington down to Clapham Junction and West Croydon. It is therefore the oldest tunnel in the oldest underground train system in the world.

The Tunnel Shaft And Museum Today

Today you can visit the tunnel shaft as part of a visit to the Brunel Museum. 

The space is also used as a unique venue for weddings, music gigs and other events. 

You can see where the original walkways would have once been located. 

The big steel roof was put in from 1938-39 when war was being anticipated.

The concrete floor was put in in 2011 and staircase in 2016, allowing it to be visited and seen more easily. 

What was once the engine house was converted into the Brunel Museum in 1980. 

The museum is open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays 10.30am-3.30pm.

They have kindly offered a 50% off discount code for my followers, if you use the code CHESHER50 at checkout (up to 2 per order).

You can find out more about visiting here.

You can discover more of London’s lesser-known historical spots below!