Brunel Museum

The Brunel Museum stands beside the Thames in Rotherhithe, Southwark. Its Engine House was built by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel to house steam pumps for the Thames Tunnel. The tunnel opened in 1843 as the world’s first underwater passage. Isambard Kingdom Brunel worked with his father from 1823 and became Resident Engineer at twenty. The site includes the Engine House and the Tunnel Shaft, topped by a rooftop garden. The museum tells the story of the tunnel’s daring construction. The shaft was the first caisson ever used, a brick tower 50 feet wide and 42 feet tall. Miners stood inside an iron shield designed by Marc Brunel to dig through the riverbed. Artefacts and images show how the tunnel became a busy pedestrian route between Rotherhithe and Wapping. A recent album of Marc Brunel’s watercolour designs was bought with help from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Visitors find a model of the tunnelling shield in the Engine House. The shaft now has a new staircase and serves as an event space. The roof garden hosts a cocktail bar with seasonal drinks. Scars on the shaft walls mark old staircases and a foreman’s escape route after a collapse. Soot stains record years of steam-engine smoke rising through the shaft. The museum runs walks, tours and holiday activities for all ages.