Air Shaft to the Rotherhithe Tunnel is a Grade II listed building in the Southwark local planning authority area, England. First listed on 1 July 1983. Air shaft. 1 related planning application.
Air Shaft to the Rotherhithe Tunnel
- WRENN ID
- sunken-lintel-fog
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Southwark
- Constituency
- Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP: Neil Coyle (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 1 July 1983
- Type
- Air shaft
- Address
- Air Shaft to the Rotherhithe Tunnel, Rotherhithe Street, SE16 5XS
- OS grid reference
- TQ 355 801
- Coordinates
- 51.50423, -0.04878
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The air shaft for the Rotherhithe Tunnel is a Grade II listed structure built between 1904 and 1908 by engineer Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice for the London County Council. This circular, single-storey building is made of red brick with Portland stone dressings and has no roof. It features a staircase leading down to the tunnel and includes four ventilation fans at a low level.
On the south side, there is a projecting doorway bay with stone quoins and two openings that have stone surrounds. The window bays around the drum are defined by brick pilaster strips that rise from a granite plinth to a stone cornice supported by corbel brackets. The coupled narrow window openings are framed in quoined stone surrounds and adorned with decorative iron grilles featuring the LCC monogram. Inside, the staircase is constructed of iron and has a wrought balustrade along with cast lamp standards.
Historically, the tunnel construction began in 1904 and was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales in 1908. This air shaft is complemented by a similar structure located in King Edward VII Memorial Park, Shadwell.
Local climate
Air Shaft to the Rotherhithe Tunnel sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 99% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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