The town of Sudbury dates back to the 8th Century and provides some fine examples of Medieval and Tudor buildings historically linked with the wool trade as well as some fine Victorian houses, many associated with silk weaving. The River Stour runs through the heart of Sudbury providing excellent recreational facilities to include fishing and rowing as well as offering most attractive water meadows, providing a pleasant backdrop to the town. Sudbury is a beautiful Market Town and has been since Saxon times, with a special character of its own. Every Thursday and Saturday there is a colourful bustle on Market Hill as the citizens gather from far and wide to gaze at the variety of wares for sale, enhanced by the colourful traders good humoured encouragement's to buy. Sudbury continues to surprise locals and visitors alike with the ancient and modern mix of tastefully built properties and the fine churches around Sudbury. The many discoveries made around the town include Archbishop of Canterbury Simon of Sudbury's head in St.Gregory's 12th century church, the famous mummified cat at the Mill Hotel, the strange and crudely carved figure discovered when the tower of All Saints Church was repaired, the unique domestic wall paintings at the rear of a shop in Friars Street, and the Georgian Milestone in Gainsborough Street which all speak of a bygone age. From the 17th century permanent shops multiplied in the Town Center, also Coaching Inns and Ale Houses well established in their trade of assisting the weary and thirsty travelers. Fortunately most of these are still operating today with some providing excellent views over the river and valley to enjoy your beverage by. The River Stour played a significant part in the commerce and survival of modern day Sudbury, it was a channel of commerce in the 18th century which encouraged the great horse-drawn barges, immortalised in the paintings by the Suffolk artist John Constable. They were used to transport coal to Sudbury while bricks, grain and other products were sent down river to the estuary and then by sea to London where many fine public buildings were constructed from the white Suffolk bricks crafted in the old Ballingdon area of Sudbury. The main claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of the famous portrait and landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough, born in Sepulchre Street (renamed Gainsborough Street) in 1727. His birthplace dates back to the 14th century and has a brick front which was added in the 1720s. In 1958 a charitable trust was formed to buy the building and open it as a memorial to the artist. Today it is a thriving gallery, the only birthplace of a great artist open to the public in Britain, with more of Gainsborough's work on display than any other museum in the world. It also shows exhibitions by contemporary artists and houses a workshop where artists can make prints.