The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Museum tells the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity which has directly contributed to housing over 25,000 children. 

Visit the Foundling Museum with The London Pass®

• Your pass gives you access to the Foundling Museum, including all current exhibitions and events included with general admission.
• Getting in is simple -  all you've got to do is show your pass.
• Discover the story of the Foundling Hospital, the children who lived there and its vibrant community of artists and musicians.
• Your London Pass also includes dozens of other top attractions, tours and experiences, all for one money-saving price.

About this experience

Opened in 2004, the Foundling Museum tells the remarkable tales of the Foundling Hospital's charitable work, dating back over 200 years. Appalled by the conditions faced by children in London, Thomas Coram (1668 – 1751) established the Foundling Hospital to care for babies at risk of abandonment in 1739. He campaigned for 17 years to found an innovative children's home, then called a 'Hospital'.

The hospital, which continues today as the children's charity Coram, was designed to care for a educate England's most vulnerable citizens. Artist William Hogarth and composer George Frideric Handel played a big part in realizing Coram's vision. Together, they transformed the hospital into the UK's first public art gallery and one of London's most fashionable venues. 

During its two centuries of operation, the Foundling Hospital looked after 25,000 children. Today, the museum building is situated in the grounds of the old hospital at 40 Brunswick Square in Bloomsbury. Constructed in 1930, the building incorporates many historic architectural features from the original 18th-century building.

Current Exhibitions

Find out what’s currently on at the Foundling Museum here.

The Foundling Museum highlights

• Throughout the museum, you'll find tiny, touching identifying tokens left by mothers with their babies. 
• Marvel at paintings by William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. 
• Enjoy artworks by outstanding contemporary artists like Yinka Shonibare, Tracey Emin and Michael Craig-Martin. 
• Today the Museum works with artists and musicians to deliver ambitious projects for young people and marginalised groups, inspired by its 300-year history of social change.
• Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge became Patron of the Foundling Museum in March 2019 and has since visited the museum.

Getting in

Simply present your pass at the entrance

For more information visit the Foundling Museum website.