Meet in front of British Museum. Halfday Guided Tour . The British Museum was founded in 1753 and opened its doors in 1759. Roughly 80,000 objects are on public display at the British Museum in Bloomsbury at any one time. The British Museum is committed to lending its collection as widely as possible to increase public access and collaboration with collections and colleagues around the world. Of the 3,823 objects lent on average every year over last 5 years, 1,982 objects are lent to UK displays