A new display for the Museum Groundbreakers: The Intrepid Men who built the Thames Tunnel (17th April to 30th August) explores the labour behind one of London’s most significant engineering achievements. While Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel are widely remembered for the Thames Tunnel, the display highlights the hundreds of miners, bricklayers, carpenters and blacksmiths who made the project possible. Through stories and objects, visitors are introduced to the people who worked in difficult and often dangerous conditions beneath the river as they reflect on the human effort behind the fabric of the city.
The display is built on the research conducted as part of the Workers Project. Over a series of workshops, a small group of people with experience of trades or construction work, explored the lives of historic workers, who they were, what they achieved, and the reality and dangers of their working conditions.
Coinciding with the May Bank Holiday, Tunnellers’ Tales (23rd to 31st May) invites parents and their little ones to step into the world of the Victorian tunnellers. Designed for children aged seven to eleven, this interactive drop-in experience explores what life may have been like working beneath the Thames through touch and storytelling.