History
The Tower Subway, is the second oldest tunnel which runs beneath the Thames. Construction of the tunnel first began in 1869, and continued until it's completion date in late 1870. Tower Subway, would be the first of it's kind to be lined using cast iron, as opposed to bricks, which had been the favourite form of tunnel lining up until then.
Upon the first 3 months of opening, the subway had been used as a passenger railway, unfortunately, due to a series of technical mishaps, just 12 passengers could be transported under the Thames at once, making the system unviable for its initial purpose.
Subsequently, the tunnel was repurposed as a pedestrian walkway in 1871, fitted with new gas lamps and spiral staircases. However, this was not a free service, as each trip through the subway cost the equivalent of £2.50 in today's money. Then, after the completion of the free of charge Tower Bridge in 1894 directly next to it, people inevitably began to stop using the subway's crossing service, essentially making it redundant.
Following its redundancy, the tunnel was then sold off to the London Hydraulic Power Company who fitted it with hydraulic tubes and water mains.
Sometime later, during the Second World War, the tunnel was badly damaged by a nearby German bomb which landed in the Thames, causing damage to the exterior lining of the Subway, leading to a high level of repair work, which can still be seen. Nowadays, the subway is used to carry telecommunications cables, and remains, for the most part, forgotten.
Tower Subway Passenger Railway, 1870
Tower Subway During Pedestrian Use (Same Year)
The Explore:
After having looked at the entry to this location at the start of the year, and seeing just how... well, blatant it was, I thought my chances of ever getting down there would be slim, and It wasn't until late last month that myself and two mates decided to take another crack at it.
So, after a brief recee of entry a week or so beforehand, we were satisfied it would be possible, and it wasn't long before we committed ourselves to a rather wet, windy and generally dismal evening a week or so later. Despite things on surface being so grim, this did infact work in our favour, as the high level of footfall we'd seen the week before seemed to of disappeared, and before we knew it, we were in.
This particular section was noticeably modernised with a fresh concrete lining, however, the 2 original victorian hydraulic pipes still remain throughout the tunnel. Having been up and checked the southern surface budiling, my mate noticed a switch with "Tunnel Lighting" written above it, and so of course, you can guess what we tried next...
Unfortunalty, the lights must've been tripped somewhere, as only the shaft stayed lit, whilst the tunnel itself still remained in darkness, and so it was back to good old fashioned light painting it was for the photos.
As seen, a high proportion of the tunnel was flooded, as so all three of us ended up with extremely soaking feet given that waddling either side of the water was near to impossible. This continued on for some time, mainly due to leakages in the 1800s tunnel lining and lack of upkeep from the telecommunications company.
After reaching the near to half way point, the tunnel suddenly seemed to broaden out substantially, and then I realised, we were stood in the repaired section from the german bomb.
However, after a while, one bit of this place looks almost identical to another, and so we pressed on to the northern end.
Finally, we had reached the northern end of the subway. Many people (if you know where to look) would've seen the surface building for this portal at one point in time, but it isn't infact the original. The small circular yellow bricked structure that can be seen on surface was built in the 1920's, and put there purely for access to the tunnels.
Upon reaching the end, I noticed a change in the tunnel lining, and can only assume that this is once where the engine room for the subway carridgway would've once been.
And that, was that! this had definitely been somewhere that myself and the others had our eye on for a good while, and it sure as hell felt good to finally get it ticked off and see what it had to offer. In total, there are 35 tunnels than run beneath the murky depths of the River Thames, and there's certainly a good handful of those that may or may not be possible in one way or another... Anyhow, seeing this piece of forgotten victorian engineering was certainly an eye opener to just how much becomes brushed under the carpet when something more convenient and impressive comes along... e.g, Tower Bridge.
- Thanks for looking -
The Tower Subway, is the second oldest tunnel which runs beneath the Thames. Construction of the tunnel first began in 1869, and continued until it's completion date in late 1870. Tower Subway, would be the first of it's kind to be lined using cast iron, as opposed to bricks, which had been the favourite form of tunnel lining up until then.
Upon the first 3 months of opening, the subway had been used as a passenger railway, unfortunately, due to a series of technical mishaps, just 12 passengers could be transported under the Thames at once, making the system unviable for its initial purpose.
Subsequently, the tunnel was repurposed as a pedestrian walkway in 1871, fitted with new gas lamps and spiral staircases. However, this was not a free service, as each trip through the subway cost the equivalent of £2.50 in today's money. Then, after the completion of the free of charge Tower Bridge in 1894 directly next to it, people inevitably began to stop using the subway's crossing service, essentially making it redundant.
Following its redundancy, the tunnel was then sold off to the London Hydraulic Power Company who fitted it with hydraulic tubes and water mains.
Sometime later, during the Second World War, the tunnel was badly damaged by a nearby German bomb which landed in the Thames, causing damage to the exterior lining of the Subway, leading to a high level of repair work, which can still be seen. Nowadays, the subway is used to carry telecommunications cables, and remains, for the most part, forgotten.
Tower Subway Passenger Railway, 1870
Tower Subway During Pedestrian Use (Same Year)
The Explore:
After having looked at the entry to this location at the start of the year, and seeing just how... well, blatant it was, I thought my chances of ever getting down there would be slim, and It wasn't until late last month that myself and two mates decided to take another crack at it.
So, after a brief recee of entry a week or so beforehand, we were satisfied it would be possible, and it wasn't long before we committed ourselves to a rather wet, windy and generally dismal evening a week or so later. Despite things on surface being so grim, this did infact work in our favour, as the high level of footfall we'd seen the week before seemed to of disappeared, and before we knew it, we were in.
This particular section was noticeably modernised with a fresh concrete lining, however, the 2 original victorian hydraulic pipes still remain throughout the tunnel. Having been up and checked the southern surface budiling, my mate noticed a switch with "Tunnel Lighting" written above it, and so of course, you can guess what we tried next...
Unfortunalty, the lights must've been tripped somewhere, as only the shaft stayed lit, whilst the tunnel itself still remained in darkness, and so it was back to good old fashioned light painting it was for the photos.
As seen, a high proportion of the tunnel was flooded, as so all three of us ended up with extremely soaking feet given that waddling either side of the water was near to impossible. This continued on for some time, mainly due to leakages in the 1800s tunnel lining and lack of upkeep from the telecommunications company.
After reaching the near to half way point, the tunnel suddenly seemed to broaden out substantially, and then I realised, we were stood in the repaired section from the german bomb.
However, after a while, one bit of this place looks almost identical to another, and so we pressed on to the northern end.
Finally, we had reached the northern end of the subway. Many people (if you know where to look) would've seen the surface building for this portal at one point in time, but it isn't infact the original. The small circular yellow bricked structure that can be seen on surface was built in the 1920's, and put there purely for access to the tunnels.
Upon reaching the end, I noticed a change in the tunnel lining, and can only assume that this is once where the engine room for the subway carridgway would've once been.
And that, was that! this had definitely been somewhere that myself and the others had our eye on for a good while, and it sure as hell felt good to finally get it ticked off and see what it had to offer. In total, there are 35 tunnels than run beneath the murky depths of the River Thames, and there's certainly a good handful of those that may or may not be possible in one way or another... Anyhow, seeing this piece of forgotten victorian engineering was certainly an eye opener to just how much becomes brushed under the carpet when something more convenient and impressive comes along... e.g, Tower Bridge.
- Thanks for looking -
Yeh we finally got round to it, did take a bit of planning but hey ho, was a good one none the less
