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The Great Britain Guide

Museums · London

Foundling Museum

ModernPaid admission♿ Wheelchair accessible

Foundling Museum — museum in Bloomsbury, London, England, United Kingdom.

Foundling Museum, museums in London

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1.5 h–3 h
Best time of year
Year-round
Nearest railway station
Russell Square · 0.3 km
  • Paid entry
  • Family-friendly
  • Wheelchair accessible

About

Foundling Museum is a museum in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to 2004. Heritage designation: Grade II listed building. Part of Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. Wikidata describes it as: "museum in Bloomsbury, London, England, United Kingdom". Coordinates: 51.5252°, -0.1217°.

Photo gallery

Heritage listing

The Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London, tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for children at risk of abandonment. The museum houses the nationally important Foundling Hospital Collection as well as the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, an internationally important collection of material relating to Handel and his contemporaries. After a major building refurbishment, the museum was reopened to the public in June 2004. The museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, which continues today as the children's charity Coram. Artists such as William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel are central to the Hospital story and today the museum celebrates the ways in which creative people have helped improve children's lives for over 275 years.

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.

Official information

Telling the story of a ground-breaking eighteenth-century institution, housed in historic interiors on its original site.

Read more on the official property page.

From the Wikipedia article

The Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London, tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for children at risk of abandonment. The museum houses the nationally important Foundling Hospital Collection as well as the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, an internationally important collection of material relating to Handel and his contemporaries. After a major building refurbishment, the museum was reopened to the public in June 2004. The museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, which continues today as the children's charity Coram. Artists such as William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel are central to the Hospital story and today the museum celebrates the ways in which creative people have helped improve children's lives for over 275 years. It is a member of The London Museums of Health & Medicine group.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

The Foundling Hospital was established by the philanthropist Thomas Coram in 1739. After 17 years of tireless campaigning, Coram was finally granted a Royal charter by King George II, enabling him to set up the UK's first children's charity in Bloomsbury, London. By the early 1920s the hospital was no longer removed from the pollution of the city; it had been subsumed into central London. The trustees of the Hospital decided to relocate operations to a modern purpose-built facility in Berkhamsted. In 1926, the land occupied by the former Hospital in Bloomsbury was sold off and the building torn down. Between 1935 and 1937 the Thomas Coram Foundation (now known as Coram) built a new…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
51.5252, -0.1217
District
Camden
Parish
Camden, unparished area
Postcode
WC1N 1PH
Parliamentary constituency
Holborn and St Pancras
Established
2004
Nearest railway station
Russell Square0.3 km

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Foundling Museum?
Foundling Museum is in London, United Kingdom (postcode WC1N 1PH), in the parish of Camden, unparished area.
When was Foundling Museum built?
Built or established in 2004.
Is Foundling Museum a listed building?
Foundling Museum is officially recognised as Grade II listed building listed.
How do I get to Foundling Museum?
The nearest railway station is Russell Square, about 0.3 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode WC1N 1PH.
How busy is Foundling Museum?
Foundling Museum draws around 40,000 visitors a year.