The Foundling Museum is both Britain’s first home for abandoned children and London’s first public art gallery.

The museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital through relatively small but substantial audio/visual exhibit that features the accounts of former foundlings and traces the historical links between the painter Hogarth, the composer Handel and the Hospital's founder Captain Coram.

The Foundling Museum’s collection includes paintings, sculpture, prints, manuscripts, furniture, clocks and historical documents. 

Things to see and do

For those who are planning to visit The Foundling Museum there are many things to see and do whilst you are there. Here is a list of some of the interesting things not to miss:

• Dickens and the Foundling- a fascinating new display that explores the relationship between Charles Dickens and the Foundling Hospital

• The Foundling Hospital Collection- spanning four centuries and containing paintings, sculpture, prints, manuscripts and furniture

Open hours

• Mondays: Closed
• Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00-17:00
• Sunday: 11:00-17:00

How to get to The Foundling Museum

• By Tube:Russell Square (2 minutes walk), King’s Cross, St Pancras
• By Railway:Euston, St Pancras, King’s Cross (10 minutes walk)
• By Bus:59, 68, 91, 168, and 188 to Southampton Row or Russell Square
• There is no parking outside the Museum.