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London has got all sorts of random and specific museums. There’s the formidable Vagina Museum, the gruesome Old Operating Theatre Museum, and one gallery dedicated entirely to the first tunnel in the world built under a river. We’re talking about the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe, which has everything you need to know about the Thames Tunnel. But a warning – if you’re planning on visiting the Brunel Museum soon, you need to go before September. Soon it will close to undergo major renovations.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc built the Thames Tunnel between 1825 and 1843, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. Originally made for pedestrians, later it became London’s first tube tunnel.
The museum has been due for some TLC for quite a while, and from September it will finally happen. Two years ago, the museum received £1.85 million in lottery funding to go towards the glow up. This money will go towards restoring the existing engine house building, building a new welcome pavilion with a café, shop and accessible facilities, creating a programme of free community events and displaying a collection of 30 watercolours known as the Thames Tunnel Archive for the first time.
It will take about a year for all the work to be completed, with the museum set to reopen in time for the tunnel’s 200th anniversary in 2025.
The museum’s director Katherine McAlpine said: ‘Having this new space means that we can engage more with everyone and involve them in what the next 200 years will look like for us.
‘We’re hoping by enabling more people to learn about the amazing story of the Brunels, we can inspire the next generation of engineers.’
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