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Home > People & Places > Articles > Does the sun shine through the Box Tunnel on Brunel's birthday

Does the sun shine through the Box Tunnel on Brunel's birthday

00:00 Mon 30th Jul 2001 | People & Places

A. This question comes from JohnThorn. His full question is: 'Is it true that the sun shines through the Box Tunnel (near Bath) on Brunel's birthday Has anyone photographed it ' < xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Work on Box Tunnel, which is as straight as a rifle barrel, started in 1836 and took about five years. This railway tunnel, under the limestone hill between Box and Corsham, is 3,200 yards long and was the world's longest when built. The hill was already riddled with tunnels - the legacy of quarrying operations. Many caverns in the hill were used as military stores. We'll come to the sun question a bit later.


Q. So how was it built

A. Using 33,849 tons of stone from the quarries in Box, and 30 million bricks made in a brickyard in Chippenham. These were taken to the tunnel site by horse and cart. Some 1,500 men worked on the tunnel, using 100 horses. The workforce grew after one year to 4,000 men with 300 horses.


Q. That's a huge undertaking. They were paid slave wages

A. No. The workers received five or six shillings (25p to 30p) a day. That was good money - farm labourers at that time were paid 12 shillings (60p) a week.


Q. Were travellers worried about so long a tunnel

A. Yes - this was a fear of the unknown! One MP argued during a House of Commons debate, that if the tunnel were built, nobody would be brave enough to enter it. Another MP warned that the tunnel's gradients was so steep - 1 in 100 - that if the train's brakes failed, it would leave the tunnel at 120mph.


Q. So what about the sunshine story

A. Isambard Kingdom Brunel calculated that on his birthday - 9 April - the rising sun would shine through the tunnel. Apparently, he was a few days out - and it shone through on 5 June. The first train passed through Box Tunnel on 30 June, 1841.


Q.
Has anyone taken a photograph of this sunlit event

A. Not that I have been able to find out. If anybody knows better, please click here and leave a message!


Q. Is it possible to make a calculation to see if the claim is true

A. Yes - and it has been done. Try going to this link: http://www.ex.ac.uk/~jbcalver/boxtun.htm


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By Steve Cunningham

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