The Greenwich Foot Tunnel was designed by civil engineer Sir Alexander Binnie for London County Council and constructed by contractor John Cochrane & Company. The project started in June 1899 and the tunnel opened on 4 August 1902. Its creation owed much to the efforts of politician Will Crooks, who had worked in the docks and, after chairing the LCC’s Bridges Committee responsible for the tunnel, later served as Labour MP for Woolwich.
Its purpose was the creation as a way for workers who lived in south London to get to work at the docks on the Isle of Dogs. It still offers 24 hour access to travellers who need to cross the Thames. The cast iron tunnel is 1215 feet long.
Lifts, installed in 1904, were upgraded in 1992 and again in 2012, and helical staircases allow pedestrians to access the sloping tunnel – lined with around 200 000 white tiles.
During the Second World War, the northern end of the tunnel was damaged in bombing. It is now reinforced with a concrete lining and thick steel.
