Venue Description

The Museum is an educational charity and tells the story of one of the world’s great engineering dynasties, the Brunels. The Museum centres around the Thames Tunnel under the river Thames, the first underwater tunnel anywhere in the world built between 1824-43. Here, Marc Isambard Brunel organised the world’s first underground concert party in 1827, and the Museum celebrates and interprets music and theatre as well as engineering. Our mission is to preserve and share widely the ground-breaking stories of the Thames Tunnel project and the outstanding achievements of the Brunel family and their relevance to our lives today. We inspire communities through exploration, learning and performance.

Accessibility

Our aspiration is to have our entire site fully accessible in the next phase of our development. However, as a unique heritage site, we currently have a few quirks and restrictions. Brunel’s Grand Entrance Hall (“The Shaft”) is our main performance venue. The Shaft is a 10m high cavern entered from the top. The bottom is reached via 3 flights of well-illuminated stairs with high-visibility handrails. Wheelchair users and those with limited mobility can view from the “Royal Box” viewing platform at the entrance at the top. The Engine House has wheelchair-suitable access to the main entrance, shop, lower gallery and toilets (where there is an accessible toilet). However, the upper gallery where the main exhibition lies, can only currently be accessed via a half-flight of stairs. The Garden is only accessible up a very narrow half-flight of stairs, and contains uneven gravel paths Access between the The Shaft and the Engine House is via a half-flight of stairs, however a level-access path is available by detouring around the building. Note for blind visitors: The main exhibition is visual rather than tactile. Verbal description can be provided by our volunteer guides on site on request. Note for D/deaf visitors: The museum has a series of short videos about the Thames Tunnel watercolours which are subtitled. Other than that, all interpretation material is text-based.

Accessibility Guide

Accessibility Guide Link: https://thebrunelmuseum.com/visiting-us/accessibility/

Awards List

Registered Charity No. 1003287 Accredited Museum, No. RD1961 Member, Association of Independent Museums Member, Group for Education in Museums

Toilets

The museum has two toilets including an accessible toilet which can be accessed via the Barn Doors in the Engine House. We have plans to create better, more accessible toilet facilities as part of the Brunel Museum Reinvented Project. We do not have a Changing Places toilet. The nearest Changing Places toilets can be found at the National Maritime Museum, at London City Hall and at Museum of London Docklands.

Staff

Information about the staff has not been added for this venue.

Assistance dog facilities

Assistance dog exercise facilities

The nearest exercise facilities for assistance dogs are in Southwark Park, which is around 5 minutes' walk from the Museum.

Other assistance dog facilities

We have a water bowl for the use of assistance dogs on site, though we do not have a toileting area for assistance dogs.