Foundling Museum

Om museet

The Foundling Hospital was founded by the sea captain Thomas Coram, who received a royal charter from George II in 1739 after seventeen years of campaigning. Its purpose was to care for and educate some of London's most vulnerable children. The first 30 babies were admitted on 25 March 1741, and over two centuries the Hospital looked after about 25,000 children. Mothers often left small objects, known as tokens, with the babies so that they could be recognised later.

The artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel were central to its success. Hogarth persuaded leading artists to donate works, which made the Hospital the first public art gallery in Britain, and Handel gave benefit concerts of Messiah in the chapel. The collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture and tokens grew from this tradition.

The Hospital moved out of London in the 20th century, the estate was sold in the 1920s and the last residential pupil left after the Second World War. The charity continues today as Coram, which set up the museum to display the collection. The building at 40 Brunswick Square dates from the 1930s and reuses many fittings from the 18th-century Hospital, including the Rococo Court Room. The museum opened in June 2004 and also holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, a major research collection on Handel and his contemporaries.

Højdepunkter

• Hospital story told through objects and personal tokens left by mothers
• Court Room Gallery with its Rococo ceiling
• Reconstructed Picture Gallery with works by Hogarth and his circle
• Hogarth's Moses Brought Before Pharaoh's Daughter
• Gerald Coke Handel Collection
• Free annual ticket with every purchase

Permanente udstillinger

• The Foundling Hospital collection – The story of the Foundling Hospital told through paintings, sculpture, furniture and the tokens that mothers left with their babies.
• Court Room Gallery and Picture Gallery – A Rococo room with works by leading 18th-century artists, and a re-creation of the Hospital's original Picture Gallery hung with large portraits.

Grundlagt

2004

Ejer

Foundling Museum (independent charity)

Besøgende pr. år

ca. 37.000

Entrépriser & rabatter

Adult tickets cost £14.50 at the museum and £13.50 when booked online in advance. Every ticket is valid for a year, so visitors can return as often as they like. Free for Friends, National Art Pass holders, Historic Houses members, ICOM and Museums Association members, care-experienced people and people receiving selected government benefits (ID or proof required). Camden residents and workers pay £13. Some events need separate tickets.

Tilgængelighed

• Kørestolsvenlig
• Elevator
• Handicaptoilet
• Handicapparkering
• Servicehunde tilladt
• Taktile tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Rundvisninger på tegnsprog: ingen oplysninger
• Letlæste tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Synstolkning: ingen oplysninger

A ramp leads to the front door and a lift (80 cm wide, 140 cm deep) reaches all floors. One non-motorised wheelchair can be borrowed if reserved about a week ahead, and mobility scooters are allowed within the lift's width limits. Two wheelchair-accessible toilets with alarm cords are on the ground and lower ground floors; there is no Changing Places toilet. An induction loop is at reception and in two studios. All interpretation is available in large print, magnifying glasses and torches can be requested, films are subtitled, and two pairs of ear defenders are at reception. Seating and folding chairs are available on every floor. Assistance dogs are welcome. Blue Badge holders may park on the yellow line outside for up to 3 hours.

Børn og familie

Velegnet til børn og familier

• Familieomvisninger & workshops
• Opgavehæfte, skattejagt eller audioguide for børn
• Interaktive stationer
• Barnevognsvenlig
• Puslerum

Artist-led family workshops for children aged 5 to 12 run in the school holidays, and free drop-in activities for under-5s take place in local libraries. Free creative activities in the Introductory Gallery and a Hetty Feather trail are available. Under-22s enter free. Pushchairs can be taken through the galleries in the lift if folded when left at reception. A baby changing facility is on the ground floor and feeding is welcome on all floors.

Transport & parkering

Brunswick Square, opposite the museum, is a park where picnics are possible in fine weather.

Service & spisesteder

• Café: findes ikke
• Restaurant: findes ikke
• Museumsbutik
• Garderobe: findes ikke
• Opbevaringsskabe

There is no café; local cafés and restaurants offer discounts to visitors, and Coram's Fields, a 5-minute walk away, has a café and picnic space. Food and drink may not be consumed in the museum. The cloakroom is closed, but a limited number of free lockers are available for small bags and coats. The shop sells gifts, books, homeware and artist prints.

Arrangementer & udlejning

• Lokaler til leje
• Private fester
• Firmaarrangementer
• Bryllupper / vielser

Spaces include the Court Room Gallery, the Picture Gallery, the Clore Creative Studio and the Study Studio, for receptions, private dining, weddings, meetings, filming and out-of-hours tours.

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