Sudbury Town Council in partnership with Guide East are pleased to announce a special, costumed guided tour which will transport attendees back to 18th Century Sudbury, the birthplace of the great artist on his 295th birthday.

• Saturday 14th May 2022 | 11:00 – 12:30
• Strolling in Gainsborough’s Footsteps: A Gainsborough’s Birthday Special Guided Tour
• Tour starts at: Sudbury Tourist Information Centre
• Tickets: Adult: £7.50, Child: £4 (under 5s go free), Family ticket: £20
• Limited tickets available
• Buy online at:  sudburytowncouncil.co.uk/sudbury-guided-walks
• In person at Sudbury Tourist Information Centre (Gaol Lane, Sudbury)
• Book over the phone: 01787 372331 (option 1) or email us on  [email protected]

Decked out in 18th Century garb, join our expert Blue Badge guides on this insightful tour following in Gainsborough’s footsteps to discover the Sudbury that the great painter would have known in the 18th century.

From the Independent Meeting House on Friars Street where Gainsborough was baptised on 14th May in 1727, the picturesque water meadows that ignited his passion for landscape painting, the family connections with Sudbury’s famous silk weaving industry, the school grounds where Gainsborough was educated, not forgetting Gainsborough’s House – the artist’s birthplace & public museum dedicated to his life and work – currently undergoing an ambitious redevelopment project: ‘Reviving an Artist’s Birthplace – a national centre for Gainsborough’.

As this ambitious and eagerly awaited re-opening of Gainsborough’s House and new centre for art draws closer, we are happy to mark this occasion in the year of their re-launch but also ensure we mark this significant date in the Sudbury event calendar.

Whether you are a visitor to the area or live locally and want to know more about this ancient Market Town, this tour offers a truly fascinating insight into Sudbury’s unique past, and the part Gainsborough and his family played in shaping our heritage.

Mayor of Sudbury, Sue Ayres comments:

“During the closure and re-development of Gainsborough House, it’s even more vital we mark the occasion of Gainsborough’s Birthday who is not only Sudbury’s most famous son but is globally recognised as one the of the greatest portrait and landscape painters of all time”.

Town Centre Manager, Rachel Price comments: “As a town we are incredibly proud of our rich cultural, industrial and natural heritage. This tour is not only a celebration of the contribution Gainsborough made to the world of great art, but the contribution 18th century Sudburians made to the many industries that still thrive locally today and form such an important part of the town’s heritage. This tour is very much about ‘strolling in the footsteps of Gainsborough’ and immersing ourselves in the Sudbury Gainsborough would’ve known in his formative years and on his return to the town.

“To help visitors truly immerse in 18th Century Sudbury, our Blue Badge Guides will deliver the tour in costume and in character”.

Claire Partner, Founder of Guide East comments:

“Join our costumed characters, Seth and Annie, (aka Claire and Ian of Guide East) as they lead you on a guided walk of Sudbury that follows in the footsteps of our great painter, Thomas Gainsborough.  Seth, a local pub landlord, and his wife, Annie, are delighted to show you the Sudbury that would have been familiar to Thomas Gainsborough as they also tell you about his family, his birthplace, his early years in Sudbury, and of course more about the great painter himself”.