Tired of London, Tired of Life - A website about things to do in London

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3 February 2009

Remember London's abandoned children

The Foundling Museum, in Brunswick Square WC1, is an art gallery and museum to London's abandoned children, and takes its name from the former Foundling Hospital, which for 200 years cared for orphaned children in London and was situated on the site adjacent to the current building, and was demolished in 1926.

The building later became London's first ever public art gallery, and this still remains, containing work by Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Louis-Francois Roubiliac and William Hogarth.

Alongside the art, you can learn the story of the thousands of children who were abandoned to the hospital between 1741 and its closure in the 1950s. This is shown through furniture, photographs and other items from the days when the Foundling Hospital cared for and educated abandoned children.

Also on site is the Coram Café, run by a Morrocan chef who apparently cooks up a mix of standard snack fare and Morrocan specialities.

The Museum is open Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–5pm and Sundays 11am – 5 pm. Admission is £5.

The website is at http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/ and for more information on the history of the Foundling Hospital you can visit the page on Wikipedia.

^Picture of the original Foundling Hospital (since demolished) from Wikipedia under Wikimedia Commons^

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