Open today until 5pm!Find out more

National Brunel Collection

A collaboration between the Brunel Institute and Bristol University.

A collage of items relating to the National Brunel Collection at Bristol Dockyards

Bristol University’s Brunel collection of ca. 8,000 items is housed in the Brunel Institute and can be accessed by researchers, and the SS Great Britain Trust’s own Brunel collection was significantly expanded in 2014 with the addition of the Clive Richards Brunel Collection. Together, these collections present a significant deposit of materials by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc Brunel.

It is the most important collection of Brunel-related material in the world, and includes original sketchbooks, letters, large-scale plans, diaries, calculation books, drawings and drawing instruments.

A large part of the collection is on display in the Being Brunel Museum. All items that are not on display can be accessed and viewed in The Brunel Institute. Items can be taken off display for research purposes by prior arrangement.

Collection Includes

8,000 items from the University of Bristol’s Brunel collection

Materials from both Isambard Kingdom Brunel & Marc Brunel

A collage of illustrations and ephemera from the Bristol Dockyards' collections

Dive deeper

The National Brunel Collection is fully accessible to researchers and can be consulted within The Brunel Institute.