The Tower Subway is a tunnel beneath the River Thames in central London, close — as the name suggests — to the Tower of London. Its alignment runs between Tower Hill on the north side of the river and Vine Lane (off Tooley Street) to the south. It was the world's first underground tube railway, though not the first underground railway. A disused railway tunnel now converted to pedestrian and bicycle use, near Houyet, Belgium A tunnel is an underground passage. ... Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... The Tower of London, seen from the river, with a view of the water gate called Traitors Gate. ... Tower Hill is an elevated spot outside the Tower of London and just outside the limits of the City of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... The Metropolitan Line is a line of the London Underground. ...

The tunnel is called a subway not due to the American English definition, equivalent to underground rapid transit, but due to the Commonwealth English usage, describing a tunnel in general. This article describes subways as mass transit lines. ... American English (AmE) is the form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... Metro and Subway redirect here. ... Commonwealth English is intended as a collective term for the perceived standard English language used in the Commonwealth of Nations1, applying in theory to Australian English, British English, Caribbean English, Canadian English, Hiberno-English (Irish English)2, Hong Kong English3, Indian English (includes Pakistani English), formal Malaysia English, New Zealand...

Origins of the Tower Subway

Interior of the Tower Subway cable car, 1870

It was designed and built by James Henry Greathead in 1869–1870 using a cylindrical wrought-iron tunnelling shield he designed with Peter W. Barlow. The entrance shaft at Tower Hill is 60′ deep, while that in Vine Lane is 50′ deep. The minimum distance between the top of the tunnel and the river bed is 22′. Interior of the Tower Subway carriage. ... Interior of the Tower Subway carriage. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... James Henry Greathead (6 August 1844 - 21 October 1896) was an engineer renowned for his work on the underground railway networks of London. ... 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used in the excavation of tunnels through soil that is too soft or fluid to remain stable during the time it takes to line the tunnel with a support structure of concrete or steel. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

It was originally intended to provide a railway service beneath the river. It was the world's first underground tube railway, officially opened on 2 August 1870. A small cable car (dubbed an omnibus by the tunnel's operators) carrying 12 people shuttled passengers from end to end through a single bore, 450 yards long and 7′ in diameter, on 2′ 6″ gauge track. The journey, powered by a 4hp stationary steam engine on the south side of the tunnel, took about 70 seconds. However, the cramped, low-capacity subway proved uneconomical and lasted just three months. The tunnel was subsequently converted to a pedestrian route with the cables ripped out and gas lights installed. This became a very popular way to cross the river, averaging 20,000 people a week (a million a year) at a cost of a half-penny each way. August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Cable Car in San Francisco A San Francisco cable car A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are propelled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. ... The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ... The Murray River in Australia. ...

In September 1888 the Subway briefly achieved a certain notoriety after a man brandishing a knife was seen in the tunnel at the time when Jack the Ripper was committing murders in nearby Whitechapel. 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Traditional Finnish puukko knife A knife is a sharp-edged hand tool used for cutting. ... Jack the Ripper is the pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area of London, England in the second half of 1888. ... Whitechapel is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ...

It was eventually superseded by Tower Bridge, constructed almost directly above it and opened in 1894. The Subway closed shortly afterwards for lack of customers. Tower Bridge Sequence showing the bridge opening Tower Bridge in its river setting, looking east from the viewing platform of The Monument. ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Contemporary accounts of the Subway

The Subway was, from all accounts, not a good place for a claustrophobe to visit. Charles Dickens Jr. reported that

"there is not much head-room left, and it is not advisable for any but the very briefest of Her Majesty's lieges to attempt the passage in high-heeled boots, or with a hat to which he attaches any particular value."

(Charles Dickens Jr., Dickens's Dictionary of London, 1879)

The Tower Subway in 1870

The Italian writer Edmondo De Amicis (1846–1908) gave a vivid description of a passage through the Subway in his Jottings about London: 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Interior of the Tower Subway. ... Interior of the Tower Subway. ... Edmondo De Amicis (Oneglia (Imperia), October 21, 1846 - Bordighera, 1908), is a notable Italian childrens writer. ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

"As I was thinking of these things I disappeared from the world indeed, going down a lighted spiral staircase which buries itself in the earth on the right bank of the Thames, opposite the Tower. I went down and down between two dingy walls until I found myself at the round opening of the gigantic iron tube, which seems to undulate like a great intestine in the enormous belly of the river. The inside of this tube presents the appearance of a subterranean corridor, of which the end is invisible. It is lighted by a row of lights as far as you can see, which shed a veiled light, like sepulchral lamps; the atmosphere is foggy; you go along considerable stretches without meeting a soul; the walls sweat like those of an aqueduct; the floor moves under your feet like the deck of a vessel; the steps and voices of the people coming the other way give forth a cavernous sound, and are heard before you see the people, and they at a distance seem like great shadows; there is, in short, a sort of something mysterious, which without alarming causes in your heart a vague sense of disquiet. When then you have reached the middle and no longer see the end in either direction, and feel the silence of a catacomb, and know not how much farther you must go, and reflect that in the water beneath, in the obscure depths of the river, is where suicides meet death, and that over your head vessels are passing, and that if a crack should open in the wall you would not even have the time to recommend your soul to God, in that moment how lovely seems the sun!

I believe I had come a good part of a mile when I reached the opposite opening on the left bank of the Thames; I went up a staircase, the mate of the other, and came out in front of the Tower of London."

(Edmondo de Amicis, Jottings about London (trans), 1883)

Edmondo De Amicis (Oneglia (Imperia), October 21, 1846 - Bordighera, 1908), is a notable Italian childrens writer. ... 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The Subway today

Original entrance to the Tower Subway at Tower Hill, demolished in the mid-1920s

From the 1920s, the tunnel gained a new purpose as a route for hydraulic tubes operated by the London Hydraulic Power Company, and water mains. The tunnel was badly damaged by bombing during World War II. While it is no longer used for hydraulic tubes, it still carries water mains; today the hydraulic tubes, once a major source of power in the centre of London, have been replaced by telecommunication cables. Old entrance to the Tower Subway on Tower Hill, circa 1925 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Old entrance to the Tower Subway on Tower Hill, circa 1925 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Tower Hill is an elevated spot outside the Tower of London and just outside the limits of the City of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... Hydraulics is a branch of science and engineering concerned with the use of liquids to perform mechanical tasks. ... The London Hydraulic Power Company was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1883 to install a network of high-pressure cast iron water mains under London. ... A municipal water system is a large system of reservoirs and large-scale piping which supplies fresh water, suitable for human consumption, to houses and other residences. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-twentieth-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... BlackBerry 7100t Telecommunication refers to communication over long distances. ... A cable is two or more wires bound together which may be bare, covered or insulated. ...

A small round entrance building survives at Tower Hill. This is not the original entrance, but was built in the 1920s by the London Hydraulic Power Company. It can be seen just to the south of the Tower of London's new ticket office, a short distance to the west of the main entrance to the Tower. The tunnel entrance on the south bank of the Thames was reportedly demolished in the 1990s. Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ...

See also

• Crossings of the River Thames
• Subterranean London
• Tunnels underneath the River Thames

This is a list of crossings of the River Thames, downstream first, including bridges, tunnels and ferries. ... The metropolis of London has been occupied for many centuries, and has acquired a number of subterranean landmarks. ... There are many tunnels under the River Thames in and near London, one of the most tunnelled cities in the world. ...

External links

• Making History: The Tower Subway
• Lost Subways: Tower Hill Subway
• Lost Industry of Southwark

This is a list of crossings of the River Thames, downstream first, including bridges, tunnels and ferries. ... The Northern Line is a deep-level tube line of the London Underground, coloured black on the Tube map. ... Bank and Monument are interlinked zone 1 London Underground stations, spanning the length of King William Street in the City of London. ... Outside view of main overground station London Bridge station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark, which occupies a large area on two levels, immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1. ... Tower Bridge Sequence showing the bridge opening Tower Bridge in its river setting, looking east from the viewing platform of The Monument. ...