Diary page for Friday 13th to Wednesday 18th, no month or year given, Marc Brunel on construction of the Thames Tunnel
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Object number2014.03178
TitleDiary page for Friday 13th to Wednesday 18th, no month or year given, Marc Brunel on construction of the Thames Tunnel
Creator Marc Isambard Brunel (author)
DescriptionPart of a diary page by Sir Marc Brunel. 'Passage through the Tunnel'. Covers Friday 13th to Wednesday 18th, no month or year given. He includes what appear to be details of the river tide times.
He discusses the work on the Thames Tunnel, including the state of the ground in the shaft, inspecting the works at Wapping, and the influx of water in the shaft. He talks about the first occasion he passed through the whole tunnel - 'Thus have I effected what no one has done before!' He mentions the other people who were first to go through the tunnel - 'Benjamin Mr Mason and Page', 'Mr [Chartier?] and Mr Curtis', and later 'Sophia (viz Mrs Hawes) her daughter and children.- Miss Henrietta Wollaston - Mr Brown one of our directors - many ladies and all the men went through and returned.'
He goes on to comment on progress on lowering the shaft and working on the arches; he remarks that 'the East side presents great difficulties.' He went to Duke Street to visit Isambard, but he wasn't in. Marc replied to a letter from Lady Calcott. He has visited the Wapping side of the tunnel several times and remarks that 'all [is] going on well'; however, Mr Page is 'very poorly.'
Marc reports that the tunnel shaft is 'inclining on the north side [...] the ground actually yielding under the weight on the north.' He made his report to the Board, which they were satisfied with. He comments that 'Service [is] excessively hard for Page and all the Leading Men.'
Transcript available.
Production date 1825 - 1843
Object namediary sheet
Object categorypersonal record
Materialpaper
Techniquehand written
Dimensions
- height: 207 mm
height: 348 mm
width: 121 mm
Credit line“Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from Clive Richards OBE DL and allocated to the ss Great Britain Trust, 2017”