Coram's Fields

Coordinates: 51°31′29″N 0°07′11″W / 51.5247°N 0.1197°W / 51.5247; -0.1197

Entrance gate to Coram's Fields

Bronze plaque at entrance

Coram's Fields is a large urban open space in the London borough of Camden in central London, England. It occupies seven acres in Bloomsbury and includes a children's playground, sand pits, a duck pond, a pets corner, café and nursery. Adults (defined as anyone over the age of 16) are only permitted to enter if accompanied by children (under 16).

It is situated on the former site of the Foundling Hospital, established by Thomas Coram in what was then named Lamb's Conduit Field in 1739. The Foundling Hospital was relocated outside London in the 1920s, and the site was earmarked for redevelopment. However, campaigning and fundraising by local residents and a donation from the Harmsworth family of newspaper proprietors, led to the creation of the current park that opened in 1936. Coram's Fields is a Grade II listed site and is owned and run by an independent registered charity, officially named Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground.^[1]

Coram's Fields also offers four half-sized football pitches, one normal-sized pitch, one stickball field and a basketball court.

The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children (the successor charity to the Foundling Hospital) and the Foundling Museum housing the art collections of the former Hospital, are based in buildings nearby.

To the west is Brunswick Square (forming part of Coram's Fields), and to the east is Mecklenburgh Square (bordered by Goodenough College to the south), two historical London squares. To the north is the Thomas Coram Foundation and St George's Gardens. To the south are Guilford Street and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Children from the hospital often visit the playground between sessions of treatment.

References

1. ^ Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground, Registered Charity no. 302963 at the Charity Commission