The Foundling Museum and Coram's Fields

Museum: The Foundling Museum and Coram's Fields

Address: 40 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ and 93 Guildford Street, London, WC1N 1DN

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7841 3600 (The Foundling Museum)

Opening Hours: 10:00 – 17:00 Tuesdays – Saturdays, 11:00 – 17:00 Sundays for the Foundling Museum, 9am till dusk for Coram’s Fields.

Cost: £7.50 for adults, children under 16 go free to The Foundling Museum; free entry to Coram’s Fields, although no adult can enter without a child!

Website: http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/ and http://www.coramsfields.org/

Pushchair Friendly Routes: King’s Cross is the closest pushchair friendly tube station, and is only a short walk from the museum and the play area. Of course, in this weather a few minutes can seem like an eternity, especially if there is a small, cold toddler involved! Russell Sq. is your closest tube stop, and isn’t too step heavy, although it will still provide a problem with a pram.

Away from the more obvious tourist destination museums of South Kensington, lie two lovely, undeservingly unknown places, which are wonderful for a half day trip with a preschooler. The history of the Museum and the Fields also seem well suited to a trip with a small, loved child; there was something very touching about exploring the same colonnade that those tiny foundlings would have played along nearly 300 years ago. For a parent or carer, it brings the history of the place to life very vividly, and the atmosphere stays with you long after your visit, as well it should. It is entirely up to you (and the weather) whether you visit the Museum or the Fields first – visiting the Museum first provides an excellent context to see the Fields; heading to the Fields first allows you to imagine the Museum’s contents in their original location.

In 1742, the first stone of what would become London’s Foundling Museum was laid in Bloomsbury. Now, the original building is gone, but in Coram’s Fields stands the covered walkways in which the little children would have sheltered and played, as well as the original gates. Now though, those walkways are home to a variety of animals, from chickens to rabbits to sheep. The rest of the Fields is made up of an excellent seven acre play area, with a lovely range of play equipment. Yiannis and I had a wonderful time here; there is something very refreshing about such a large area of central London focused entirely on children, as well as making friends with cockerels whilst going down slides! It is such a hidden treasure that it is never busy, which is a shame as it is a brilliant space for children, but excellent for parents who do find it as it means you don’t have to queue for hours or worry about your toddler being knocked down by all the other big kids!

Once you’ve had a lovely play in Coram Fields, a two minute walk across Brunswick Park, which is tiny and glorious at the moment in its autumn colours takes you across to the Foundling Museum, a 1930s building whose original purpose was to hold the Coram charity’s papers, but which now houses the staircase, rooms and artwork of the original Foundling Hospital. The staff is friendly and kind, and will happily allow you to park your buggy and use the free cloakroom so you can explore the museum without being weighed down by coats. There is also a lovely, although not cheap, café and excellent changing facilities. The Museum has a good range of activity backpacks and trails, which are more focused for the older child, but the backpacks in particular provide a good starting point to the theme of the museum. Upstairs, there are also a lovely selection of picture books which explore adoption, fostering and different family set ups, which provide a further stepping stone to introducing your preschooler to some of these difficult topics.

The Foundling Hospital was built to provide a home for babies whose mothers were unable to care for them, usually as the baby had been born out of wedlock. The desperate plight of these mothers is of course very difficult to explain to a preschooler, and I decided to explain the purpose of the museum and the stories behind much of the artwork and artifacts in simplistic terms; telling Yiannis that the boys and girls who lived here didn’t have a mummy and daddy, rather than get into the details of unwanted children. The museum can be enjoyed without having to explore the more difficult themes with your child, but be warned that as a parent or carer, some of the exhibits are incredibly emotional. Yiannis found himself being hugged very tightly when we came across a case full of tiny tokens distraught mothers left with their babies. Many of these women were so poor, but so determined that their baby should have something to remember them by, that they ripped strips of fabrics from their dresses.

There is a very beautiful and emotional atmosphere to the museum; it is a very different space to the large South Kensington museums, and Yiannis responded well to this. He chose to spend a long time in each room, considering everything much longer than he did at the Science Museum, for example. Whether this was due to the lesser number of objects in each room, well, perhaps, but I believe it was because he felt safe, comfortable and far less distracted in this museum. He was very content and busy pottering between the rooms and up and down the grand staircase, asking and chatting about the pictures and statues. At the top of the Museum are four armchairs which play Handel’s music, which Yiannis absolutely loved, to my surprise!

The Foundling Museum and Coram’s Fields may not come immediately to mind when choosing a day trip to a museum with a toddler, but they should. Coram’s Fields is excellent and I cannot recommend anywhere in London higher as a place to spend half an hour outside. The Foundling Museum is an important part of London’s childcare history, and a beautiful space. The artwork in particular is so full of narrative, and although parents and carers may get more than your child about the history of the museum, the educational benefit of the music, pictures and unique space for children is impressive. Yiannis loved his visit, and although I think more could be done to engage with preschoolers, we decided to compromise and give the Museum and Fields 3 dinosaurs out of 5.