Isambard Kingdom Brunel's first building project is to be turned into an events space 150 years after it was last open to the public. The 65ft-deep Rotherhithe entrance shaft to the Thames Tunnel in London will be opened for events in a project planned by the Brunel Museum.
The Thames Tunnel, which connects Rotherhithe and Wapping, was opened in 1843. It was the world’s first underwater tunnel and the birthplace of the modern London underground system.
The entrance shaft will be made accessible with a new cantilevered staircase. This will take the place of long-gone staircases that allowed millions of Victorian visitors to descend into the tunnel. The new venue will accommodate up to 135 people and will be available for hire as well as museum events once building work is completed later this year.
Robert Hulse, director of the Brunel Museum, said: “Brunel was a showman as well as an engineer, and I’m sure he would have approved of holding performances in this new underground gallery.”
When it opened in 1843 the Thames Tunnel was described as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’. People came from far and wide to see the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world. On the opening day fifty thousand people descended the staircase and paid a penny to walk through the tunnel.
The proposal to build the tunnel was to accommodate sailing ships on the River Thames. The Port of London was the busiest in the world and the hub of trade across the British Empire. Any bridge built would have to allow ships with masts over 100 feet tall to sail under them. A horse could not pull a loaded cart up the very steep hill which would have been necessary for a bridge spanning the river. The technology of Tower Bridge’s lifting bascules was not available to these early engineers. Hence the idea of a tunnel.
Excavation work started in 1825. The tunnel flooded five times during construction, and in the worst flood six men were drowned before the tunnel was finally completed in 1843. Furthermore the River Thames in those days was no better than an open sewer. In 1869, steam trains started to run through the tunnel meant for horses and carts. In 1913 the railway was electrified and incorporated into the London Underground as the East London Line, making the Thames Tunnel the oldest tunnel in the oldest underground system in the world. The birthplace of the tube.
Details: www.brunel-museum.org.uk
