2-502-711 - The London Archives (City of London)/Heritage Images

The Thames Tunnel, London, 1827. Views of the Thames Tunnel: top, a cross section of the tunnel with the river above; centre, a view in the tunnel and a view of the shield used in its construction; bottom, a plan of the area. The Thames Tunnel, connecting Wapping and Rotherhithe, was the first underwater tunnel in the world. Completed as a foot tunnel in 1843, it was converted to a railway tunnel for the East London Railway in the 1860s. Sir Marc Isambard Brunel designed the tunnel, and his son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was site engineer.