Gainsborough's House is a Grade I listed building in the Babergh local planning authority area, England. First listed on 3 March 1952. A C18 Museum. 9 related planning applications.
Gainsborough's House
- WRENN ID
- sleeping-thatch-pearl
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Babergh
- Constituency
- South Suffolk MP: James Cartlidge (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 3 March 1952
- Type
- Museum
- Address
- Gainsborough's House, 46, Gainsborough Street, Sudbury, CO10 2EU
- OS grid reference
- TL 872 412
- Coordinates
- 52.03822, 0.72842
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Gainsborough's House, located at 46 Gainsborough Street, is a historic building dating from 1692, with significant alterations made in the 18th century. This two-storey structure features attics and cellars, and is constructed with timber framing and plaster, topped with a tiled roof. The front facade is made of red brick and includes a panelled parapet and a white-painted modillion cornice. It has five windows with sashes that have glazing bars, flush frames, and brick aprons. The central doorway is notable for its panelled reveals, a flat white-painted wood case, and a rectangular fanlight. A plaque on the front commemorates that Thomas Gainsborough, the famous landscape and portrait painter, was born here in 1727; his family moved into the house in 1725. The rear of the house features a large rounded turret at the west end, with upper windows that are sashes with glazing bars and a ground floor that includes three Gothic French windows. The building now serves as a museum. The house is part of a group with Nos 9 to 15 and No 46, as well as Nos 41 to 47 and 1 and 2 Weaver's Lane.
Local climate
Gainsborough's House sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 98% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 72% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 28 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 70% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 9 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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