Why did people walk through the Thames tunnel?

An engineering marvel, the Thames Tunnel saw some 24 million pedestrians pass through before it was converted to rail use for the Underground in 1865. The reason all those people went through the tunnel—some more than once! —was to get to the other side, obviously, but also because it was a destination in itself.



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While you can't walk through the Thames Tunnel, you can head underground into our spectacular Grade II* listed Tunnel Shaft which once served as the Grand Entrance Hall for Victorian visitors.

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The longest tunnel in the United Kingdom is the Northern line at 27,800 metres (91,200 ft). This will be superseded in the 2020s by the 37,600-metre (123,400 ft) Woodsmith Mine Tunnel in North Yorkshire that will transport polyhalite from North Yorkshire to a port on Teesside.

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On 18 May 1827, after a rising tide, the Thames Tunnel's ceiling collapsed under the weight of the river and a torrent of water filled the structure. Brunel narrowly escaped with his life.

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Yes there is, its called the Greenwhich foot tunnel opened in 1902 and goes between island gardens and the isle of dogs. But it wasn't the first, the Thames tunnel opened in 1843 and was built by Marc Brunel and later had railtrack laid through it.

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Thames Tunnel, tunnel designed by Marc Isambard Brunel and built under the River Thames in London. Drilled from Rotherhithe (in the borough of Southwark) to Wapping (now in Tower Hamlets), it was the first subaqueous tunnel in the world and was for many years the largest soft-ground tunnel.

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In 1825, French engineer Marc Brunel started work on the Thames Tunnel, the very first underwater tunnel anywhere in the world. Beset by financial difficulties, frequent flooding and several deaths, the project wasn't completed until 1843.

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Fritchley Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel at Fritchley in Derbyshire, England, which is believed to be the oldest surviving example in the world. The tunnel was constructed in 1793 by Benjamin Outram as part of the Butterley Gangroad, altered in the 1840s, and remained in use until the railway closed in 1933.

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The Cowburn Tunnel is a railway tunnel at the western end of the Vale of Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The tunnel is 3,702 yards (3,385 m) long. It is the deepest railway tunnel in England, at 875 feet (267 m).

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