Culture, Leisure & Heritage highlights in Sudbury
St Peter's
cultural venue
market hill
St Peter’s is a cultural venue and Grade I listed former church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Situated on Market Hill in the centre of Sudbury town, St Peter’s hosts a broad range of events, from live music, theatre, exhibitions, fayres and festivals for the people of Sudbury, and visitors from further afield.
This wonderfully diverse venue, and the events it hosts, is run by volunteers, and supported by The Friends of St Peter’s whose mission it is to keep St Peter’s a place for people to experience more.
sudbury heritage centre
Town hall (gaol lane)
From Saxons to silk...A must visit for anyone curious about Sudbury's unique heritage.
Sudbury Heritage Centre is housed within the beautiful Grade II listed Town Hall with the (free) entrance on Gaol Lane. Displays offer windows on the town’s past from the Iron Age to the 21st Century and you can even meet Simon of Sudbury face to face - the Archbishop of Canterbury beheaded in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.
gainsborough's
house
46 & 47 Gainsborough St
* CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR RE-DEVELOPMENT.
Gainsborough's House is a public museum, gallery and garden dedicated to the the life and work of artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88) who was born in Sudbury.
Major re-development work is currently underway to transform and re-display the historic buildings while constructing a new three-storey wing that will create the largest gallery in Suffolk, due to re-open in Spring 2022
sudbury library
corn exchange, market hill
Built in 1841, the Corn Exchange Building on Market Hill is a magnificent building. Pevsner, in his 'Buildings of England', says it 'deserves a glance, if only to meditate on the Early Victorian sense of security, superiority and prosperity' that emanates from its stuccoed neo-classical facade'.
Today it is not corn that is exchanged here but books (and a wealth of local knowledge) as our Public Library and Sudbury's Tourist Information Centre are based here. no trip to Sudbury is complete without a visit to our excellent Tourist Information Centre. Our TIC team have a wealth of local knowledge and know all the best ways to explore our beautiful Town and surrounding areas.
the talbot trail
starts at the town hall
The 14 bronzes on Sudbury’s ‘Talbot Trail’ illustrate various fascinating episodes in the town’s history over the centuries and an excellent way to discover some of Sudbury's ancient architecture (over 240 of Sudbury's buildings are listed), rich cultural and industrial heritage, beautiful green spaces and independent shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants along the way.
The ‘talbot’ was a breed of hunting dog and the town coat of arms depicts the dog owned by the
notorious Simon of Sudbury. Follow the map from 1-14 for a fascinating walk around Sudbury with many highlights along the way.
Enjoy Sudbury's outstanding green spaces
From riverside walks along the Stour, gentle ambles across Sudbury's common lands and water meadows, picnics in our parks and open spaces to fascinating strolls along lost railway lines there is something for ramblers to curious culture buffs alike...
Sudbury is surrounded by breathtaking landscape accented by the River Stour and Sudbury's water meadows and commanlands. With excellent transport links Sudbury is the perfect gateway to the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) that continues to inspire some of the world's greatest creatives, most famously our very own Thomas Gainsborough.
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Public green spaces and walks in and about Sudbury
- The Croft, Millacre and boating lake
- Sudbury Common Lands
- Belle Vue Park
- Gainsborough Trail: Meadow Walk download map
- Sudbury Water Meadows see walking route
- Melford Hall to Sudbury Three Mills walk see route map
- Bures Station to Sudbury Station ramble see walk
- Friars Meadow
- Sudbury Cemetery
- Stour Valley Path