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Brunel Museum
The Brunel Museum is a small museum situated at the Brunel Engine House, Rotherhithe, London Borough of Southwark. The Engine House was designed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel as part of the infrastructure of the Thames Tunnel which opened in 1843 and was the first underwater tunnel to have been built anywhere in the world. It comprises the Engine House and the Tunnel Shaft, with rooftop garden. Isambard Kingdom Brunel worked with his father on the project from 1823 and was appointed Resident Engineer in January 1827 at the age of 20.
The museum site includes the Tunnel Shaft which was the world's first caisson. A tower of brick 3 ft thick and 50 ft in diameter was built above ground to a height of 42 ft. It was then sunk under its own weight to a depth of 40 feet. The remaining 20 ft of shaft necessary to achieve the correct level for digging the tunnel was constructed by under-pinning. The tunnelling was done by miners standing within an iron shield (or ambulating cofferdam) designed and patented by Marc Isambard Brunel.
The Engine House was designed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel to be part of the infrastructure of the Thames Tunnel. It held steam-powered pumps used to extract water from the tunnel. It was originally used as a boiler house during the construction of the Thames Tunnel between 1825 and 1843.
Since 1961 the building has been used as a museum, displaying information on the construction of the tunnel and the other projects by Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.[citation needed] The museum houses a model of the tunnelling shield as well as images and artefacts from when the tunnel was in use as a pedestrian thoroughfare between Rotherhithe and Wapping.
The chimney and engine house are Grade II Listed since 1974. Structural decay was prevented in 1975 by a charitable trust named "Brunel Exhibition Rotherhithe".[citation needed] The building was restored in 1979.
In 2006 the museum changed its name from Brunel Engine House to Brunel Museum and expanded its exhibition to include a new mural on the shaft showing the tunnel shield, and other works by the Brunels, such as models of famous Brunel bridges incorporated into bench seating.
In 2018, the museum raised more than £200,000, including a major grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, to buy an album including a collection of drawings of the Thames Tunnel, prepared or overseen by Marc Isambard Brunel (1769 –1849).
The Brunel Museum takes part in the Open House Weekend event every year and, until the East London Line's temporary closure in 2007, took parties of people through the tunnel on the Underground trains as part of a guided tour of the tunnel.
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Brunel Museum
The Brunel Museum is a small museum situated at the Brunel Engine House, Rotherhithe, London Borough of Southwark. The Engine House was designed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel as part of the infrastructure of the Thames Tunnel which opened in 1843 and was the first underwater tunnel to have been built anywhere in the world. It comprises the Engine House and the Tunnel Shaft, with rooftop garden. Isambard Kingdom Brunel worked with his father on the project from 1823 and was appointed Resident Engineer in January 1827 at the age of 20.
The museum site includes the Tunnel Shaft which was the world's first caisson. A tower of brick 3 ft thick and 50 ft in diameter was built above ground to a height of 42 ft. It was then sunk under its own weight to a depth of 40 feet. The remaining 20 ft of shaft necessary to achieve the correct level for digging the tunnel was constructed by under-pinning. The tunnelling was done by miners standing within an iron shield (or ambulating cofferdam) designed and patented by Marc Isambard Brunel.
The Engine House was designed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel to be part of the infrastructure of the Thames Tunnel. It held steam-powered pumps used to extract water from the tunnel. It was originally used as a boiler house during the construction of the Thames Tunnel between 1825 and 1843.
Since 1961 the building has been used as a museum, displaying information on the construction of the tunnel and the other projects by Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.[citation needed] The museum houses a model of the tunnelling shield as well as images and artefacts from when the tunnel was in use as a pedestrian thoroughfare between Rotherhithe and Wapping.
The chimney and engine house are Grade II Listed since 1974. Structural decay was prevented in 1975 by a charitable trust named "Brunel Exhibition Rotherhithe".[citation needed] The building was restored in 1979.
In 2006 the museum changed its name from Brunel Engine House to Brunel Museum and expanded its exhibition to include a new mural on the shaft showing the tunnel shield, and other works by the Brunels, such as models of famous Brunel bridges incorporated into bench seating.
In 2018, the museum raised more than £200,000, including a major grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, to buy an album including a collection of drawings of the Thames Tunnel, prepared or overseen by Marc Isambard Brunel (1769 –1849).
The Brunel Museum takes part in the Open House Weekend event every year and, until the East London Line's temporary closure in 2007, took parties of people through the tunnel on the Underground trains as part of a guided tour of the tunnel.