Road tunnels were built in East London at the end of the 19th century, being the Blackwall Tunnel and the Rotherhithe Tunnel.

The northern entrance of the Rotherhithe Tunnel emerges in Limehouse, to the west of the Basin and close to Limehouse railway station.

St. Mary's Church is at the centre of the old town of Rotherhithe village, which contains various historic buildings including the Brunel Engine House at the south end of the Thames Tunnel.

When the roundabout facing the Rotherhithe Tunnel was redeveloped in the early 1980s, several nineteenth century buildings were demolished including a school and a nunnery.

The later Rotherhithe Tunnel ( opened 1908 ) carries a two-lane road to Limehouse.

Squeezed between the high walls of the docks and warehouses, the district became isolated from the rest of London, although some relief was provided by Brunel's Thames Tunnel to Rotherhithe.

In 1825 Marc Isambard Brunel began work on the Thames Tunnel, intended to link Rotherhithe with Wapping.

Nearby is the north end of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, and the western end of the Limehouse Link tunnel.

The Thames Tunnel is an underwater tunnel, built beneath the River Thames in London, United Kingdom, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping.

The tunnelling shield, built at Henry Maudslay's Lambeth works and assembled in the Rotherhithe shaft, was the key to Brunel's construction of the Thames Tunnel.

* The Brunel Museum – Based in Rotherhithe, London the museum is housed in the building that contained the pumps to keep the Thames Tunnel dry

The nearest alternative road crossings are the Rotherhithe Tunnel to the west, Tower Bridge to the west, and the Dartford Crossing to the east.

The Rotherhithe entrance of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, 1909

Designed by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, the Engineer to the London County Council, the tunnel's construction was authorised by the Thames Tunnel ( Rotherhithe and Ratcliff ) Act of 1900 despite considerable opposition from local residents, nearly 3, 000 of whom were displaced by the tunnel works.

Sectional map of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, 1906

The Rotherhithe Tunnel consists of a single bore, 4, 860 feet ( 1, 481 m ) long, carrying a two-lane carriageway 48 feet ( 14. 5 m ) below the high-water level of the Thames, with a maximum depth of 75 feet ( 23 m ) below the surface.

The Rotherhithe Tunnel was originally designed to serve foot and horse-drawn traffic passing between the docks on either side of the river.

A 2003 survey rated the Rotherhithe Tunnel the tenth most dangerous tunnel in the whole of Europe due to its poor safety features.

Like many other London tunnels and bridges, the Rotherhithe Tunnel now carries far more traffic than it was designed for.

Access to London from the A2 across Thames was improved with the completion of Tower Bridge ( 1894 ), Blackwall Tunnel ( 1897 ) and the Rotherhithe Tunnel ( 1908 ).

Platform view looking south, showing low angled Rotherhithe Tunnel approach ramp ( painted blue ) crossing over lines

There is also a Murdoch House in Rotherhithe, London.

Peckham Library, designed by Will Alsop won the Stirling Prize for modern architecture ; another architecturally innovative library is under construction at Canada Water in Rotherhithe.

The well in the centre of the shield is a ' canting ' reference to Camberwell and the cinquefoils represent the Dulwich area of Camberwell, while the ship on the top left refers to the maritime history of Bermondsey and was part of the Rotherhithe insignia.

It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east.

Rotherhithe () is a residential district in southeast London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark.

Following the arrival of the Jubilee line in 1999 ( giving quick connections to the West End and to Canary Wharf ) and the London Overground in 2010 ( providing a quick route to the City of London ), the rest of Rotherhithe is now a rapidly gentrifying residential and commuter area, with current regeneration progressing most quickly around Canada Water, where a new town centre with restaurant and retail units as well as new residential developments is emerging around the existing freshwater lake and transport hub.

Although the docks were closed and largely filled in during the 1980s, and have now been replaced by modern housing and commercial facilities, Rotherhithe is still given a large part of its character by its former maritime heritage.

The largest surviving dock on the south bank, Greenland Dock, is the focal point for the southern part of the district, while there are many preserved wharves along the riverside at the north end of Rotherhithe.

Rotherhithe is the traditional home of the football team, Fisher F. C., although the team currently ground-share with Dulwich Hamlet.

The most popular team in Rotherhithe is Millwall Football Club located nearby in the boundaries of the London Borough of Lewisham.

Originally established as seafarers ' missions, Rotherhithe is home to a Norwegian, a Finnish and a Swedish church.

The Finnish Church and the Norwegian Church are both located in Albion Street ; they were built in 1958 and 1927 respectively ( Rotherhithe Library is located between them ).

The Mayflower sailed from near a public house called the Shippe in Rotherhithe Street, which was substantially rebuilt in the 18th century and is now named the Mayflower.

Rotherhithe is joined to the north bank of the Thames by three tunnels.

Rotherhithe is part of the SE16 postcode district.

Electorally, the western half is Rotherhithe ward and the eastern half Surrey Docks ward.

As much of Rotherhithe was covered by the now-defunct Surrey Commercial Docks, the district is sometimes referred to as Surrey Docks or ( since the late 1980s ) Surrey Quays, though the latter name tends to be used more for the southern half of the peninsula.

Nearby in Rotherhithe, the original Brunel Engine House is open to visitors as the Brunel Museum.

Pedestrian ( and cycle ) access is still permitted in the Rotherhithe bore, however, the distances involved for pedestrians increased significantly when the spiral staircases closed because rather than just crossing the river, a pedestrian has to follow the carriageway ramp all the way back to the surface.

The building ceased to be a town hall in 1905 when the former Rotherhithe Council merged with the old Bermondsey Borough Council and the new council used premises in Spa road.

At the southern end of the Rotherhithe station platforms, the approach ramp for the 1908 Rotherhithe Tunnel passes above the railway on a low and angled road bridge which is highly unusual for being located below water level.

In all, MHA were involved in the construction of all but five of the UK's longest road tunnels ( the exceptions being the Heathrow Cargo Tunnel, Heathrow Main Tunnel, Clyde tunnel, Limehouse Link tunnel and Rotherhithe tunnel ).