Brunel Museum, London

Brunel Museum is a museum in Rotherhithe, in the London Borough of Southwark. Formerly known as the Brunel Engine House, the museum is part of the Thames Tunnel built by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Brunel Museum, London
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brunel_Museum,_Rotherhithe_%288217_800%29.jpg
Author: Mrbryanejones


Burnel Museum is housed in Brunel's engine house, which was used to extract water from the tunnel. Brunel's Thames Tunnel was built between 1825 and 1843 by Brunel and Admiral Thomas Cochrane. It was the first tunnel ever built under a navigable river. The tunnel measures 1,300 feet (396 m) in length. It is 35 feet (11 m) wide, 20 feet (6 m) high, and runs 75 feet (23 m) below the surface of the River Thames. The construction was not without mishaps, and one in 1828 claimed the lives of six men, with 22-year-old Isambard Kingdom Brunel himself narrowly escaped drowning.

The Thames Tunnel was intended for horse-drawn carriages to cross the river, but this was never realised. Although an engineering marvel, it ran at a loss, having overblown its initial cost estimates. In 1865, it was bought over by the East London Railway Company, which was later absorbed into the London Underground, and became the East London Line. During its use, it was the oldest piece of infrastructure of the London Underground. In 2007 it became part of the London Overground.

Thames Tunnel, as seen during the Thames Tunnel Walk in 2010
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thames_Tunnel_walk.jpg
Author: Lars Ploughmann


The Brunel Museum opened in 1961 to provide information about the tunnel. On display are models of other Brunel projects such as the famous Brunel bridges.

How to reach Brunel Museum

The nearest station to Brunel Museum is the Rotherhithe Station served by the London Overground. The nearest London Underground station is the Canada Water Tube Station served by the Jubilee Line.

Brunel Museum is open daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Admission fee is £2 for visitors aged 16 and above. Walking tours are conducted every Thuesday between the Bermondsey Tube Station to Brunel Museum on Tuesdays at 6:15 pm.

List of Museums in London

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.