Groundbreakers display opens at Brunel Museum
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 …
Update on Brunel Museum Reinvented project
In June 2022, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supported The Brunel Museum Reinvented with a £2,102,400 grant for both a public engagement programme and capital works to create a new home for our Museum. As part of this funding, we are also required to match fund in order for the project to proceed. We had …
Two-pence Journey Around the World: Culture and Empire in the Thames Tunnel
Following the completion of an internship and research project at the Brunel Museuas part of her MA in History at Queen Mary University London, Naima El Halili Kintlerova explores the intersection of empire and the Thames Tunnel. As you descend into the Thames Tunnel Shaft on 26 July 1848, the music and voices of visitors …
Mapping the Life of Marc Brunel
From 16 March to 1 May 2026, a group of computer science students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts were at the Brunel Museum to create an interactive map depicting the life and travels of Marc Brunel. The team — Michael Elkinson, Huy Ho, Minh Ha, and Matthew Dunn — developed the map …
Notes from a Forgotten Island: A Rotherhithe Community Zine
Shota Noonan, a student at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, has been conducting a project entitled Notes from a Forgotten Island, which included a residency at the Brunel Museum in which he engaged individuals, asking them to define their perceived boundaries of Rotherhithe and evolving into deeper discussions about identity, memory, and change. The …
Big Give Arts For Impact 2026
This year (from 17 March) we’re tackling the Big Give’s Arts For Impact challenge: because we know how important arts and heritage can be in people’s lives, we want to make our schools programme even more accessible for our young learners. And thanks to the Brunel Museum’s own supporter network, your donations will be doubled! …
The Brunel Museum Publishes its 2025 Research, Public History, and Science Outreach Report
Today, the Brunel Museum published its annual Research, Public History, and Science Outreach report, detailing its activities in these areas. The Research, Public History, and Science Outreach Report 2025 can be accessed here. Alongside the Museum’s French Revolution season and a number of student placements offering experience in research and working in the Museum sector, …
Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025 update
In 2026, we want to keep our families events free. This week we’re fundraising with the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge, which means all donations will be DOUBLED before 9 December. If we can raise the full £7500, we want to offer: Party in the Piazza Community Festival – FREE Family activities as part of Open …
Banquets at the Thames Tunnel: New Sources for the World’s First Underwater Dinners
Monday 10 November 2025 is the 198th anniversary of an extraordinary dinner, held under the waters of the River Thames in the Thames Tunnel. In our latest blog, Museum volunteer Sue Thomas reveals a raft of new information about the dinner, following her exciting discovery of a file of RSVPs sent to the Brunels. …
Marc Brunel and the American Steamboat
The Brunel name is inextricably linked with the great nineteenth century steamships. However, long before Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed and launched three world-changing ships, his father, Marc Brunel, had been involved with steamships: and not in Britain, but in the United States. In our latest blog, Mark Kleinman considers Brunel’s engagement with American steamboat pioneers …