Gainsborough's House

Gainsborough’s House is the childhood home of Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88) in Sudbury.

Gainsborough’s House combines the childhood home of Thomas Gainsborough – a Grade I-listed eighteenth-century Merchant house and its historic garden – with impressive new exhibition galleries and visitor facilities. Gainsborough (1727–88) is one of Britain’s greatest ever artists and his birthplace and childhood home is a national asset. The house was saved from destruction in 1958 and opened to the public in 1961 to promote the wider knowledge, appreciation, and enjoyment of the art of Thomas Gainsborough and to preserve and enhance the house and its collections for the benefit of present and future generations.

In 2019, Gainsborough’s House embarked on a major capital redevelopment. This project transformed the site with a new three-story exhibition wing, a study area, improved print workshop, a new cafe, shop, and office spaces as well as the full restoration of the Georgian townhouse. These new facilities were opened in November 2022.

Our new galleries, study areas and visitor amenities have vastly increased access to exhibitions and the permanent collection. They have also enabled us to serve new audiences from the regional community with imaginative exhibition, workshops and learning programmes that meet their specific, wide-ranging needs.