text: It is home to the Gainsborough's House museum, celebrating the work of the artist.
  History
  Early history
  Sudbury's history dates back into the age of the Saxons. The town's earliest mention is in circa 799, when Ælfhun, Bishop of Dunwich, died in the town. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the town as Suðberie ("south-borough"), presumed to distinguish it from Norwich or Bury St Edmunds, to the north, and  is recorded as Suðbyrig. The town is also mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, as a market town where the local people came to barter their goods. The market was established in 1009. During this period the town was surrounded by a defensive ditch and a diverted section of the River Stour.
  The Church of All Saints was established in the 12th century before being bought by Adam the Monk, who then passed the church and its lands to the Abbey of St Albans. St Bartholemew's Benedictine Priory and the Chapel of Holy Sepulchre were also established in the 12th century.
  A community of Dominicans established Sudbury Priory in the mid-13th century and gradually extended the size of their priory, which was one of three Dominican priories in the county of Suffolk. A leper hospital was founded on the outskirts of the town in 1272.