News / Society
Unseen Brunel artefacts for new museum
Never-before-seen artefacts from Brunel’s life have been revealed for the first time as work begins at the ss Great Britain to build a brand new museum.
From a selection of school reports from his younger days to his last cigar (above), these unique artefacts and others that will go on display at Being Brunel will give an insight into what shaped Brunel as a person.
Demolition of the vacant North Range buildings next to the ss Great Britain are the start of work on the new museum, which will offer visitors the chance to immerse themselves in the life and upbringing of the great engineer and to explore the thought processes behind the development of some of his most famous creations.
Brunel’s original drawing rooms, which are currently unused grade II listed buildings, will be restored to replicate what they were like in the 1840s.
Once brought back to their original conditions, visitors will be able to enter the world in which the ss Great Britain was conceived, designed and built.
The new museum is scheduled to open in early 2018. The £7.1 million project has been partially funded by the ss Great Britain Trust and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.