Place    From 1868  To 1898

Tower subway

Categories: Transport

A tunnel beneath the Thames with entrances at Tower Hill and at Vine Lane on the south side. The second tunnel under the Thames (the first being Brunel's) and the first tunnel anywhere built using the Greathead shield. Rails were laid in the tunnel and for a few months in 1870 a passenger carriage was pulled back and forth under the Thames. This business failed and the tunnel was converted for use as a pedestrian toll tunnel. This operated successfully but the toll-free Tower Bridge opening in 1894 took most of the tunnel's customers and it closed in 1898.

Nowadays the tunnel is used by various utilities. The southern entrance was demolished in the 1990s and replaced with a dull blue and white flat-roofed hut. Subterranean Britannica has images of the entrances at various times, but uncaptioned. The Getty image that we've used shows a very decorative building (probably the original), bricked up so presumably post-1898. The boards around the top read 'Tower Subway' and the hand-painted writing onthe bricks reads 'Closed'. Given the slope of the ground this must show the northern entrance.

2023: Ian Visits published a post about this tunnel together with a Vodaphone video of the inside of the tunnel!

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Tower subway

Commemorated ati

Tower subway

London Hydraulic Power Company subway constructed AD 1868.

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Bridge of Aspiration

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1 memorial
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Co., 5,635 members who served in WW1

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1 memorial
T. Blanch & Sons

T. Blanch & Sons

Coach-makers, active in 1898.

Group, Commerce, Craft / Design, Transport

1 memorial
Godspeed

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One of the three ships which sailed in 1606 to found the Jamestown Settlement. Captained by Bartholomew Gosnold, she carried 49 colonists and 13 sailors. Our picture is of a replica.

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1 memorial

Previously viewed

A. G. Hawkes

A. G. Hawkes

Killed in WW1.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
L. W. Metcalfe

L. W. Metcalfe

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

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1 memorial
C. Matthews

C. Matthews

Hammersmith and Fulham International Brigade volunteer.

Person, Spain

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1 memorial
Frank Ferris

Frank Ferris

Islingtonian who died in the South African War, 1899-1903

Person, Spain

War dead, Other war
1 memorial
W. Matthews

W. Matthews

Sergeant, serving in WW1, died at Lewisham Hospital.

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War dead, WW1
1 memorial