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DAYS
4
TOUR CODE
CGSU-27
COST
£1595
DAYS
4
TOUR CODE
CGSU-27
COST
£1595
Join ACE as we celebrate 300 years since the birth of Thomas Gainsborough, one of Britain's most illustrious portrait and landscape painters, alongside the magnificent work of his near contemporary John Constable.
Overview
Exploring Suffolk’s picturesque countryside affords a unique opportunity to study its influence on the work of Constable and Gainsborough, and the development of the British landscape tradition that endures to this day.
On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Gainsborough’s birth, our tour will examine the artist’s roots in his native Suffolk on a visit to the market town of Sudbury. Here, a major redevelopment and refurbishment has recently transformed the artist’s former house into a National Centre for Gainsborough, winning the prestigious RIBA East Building of the Year Award in 2024. It forms the largest gallery in Suffolk, and presents a dedicated insight into Gainsborough’s life and works, which will be augmented in 2027 by a special tercentenary exhibition, entitled Gainsborough at Home.
This landmark display will celebrate the anniversary through the lens of the Suffolk countryside that so inspired Gainsborough, while also providing insights into the rest of his life and work. Important loans from Tate Britain, the Royal Collection Trust, National Galleries of Scotland, Ashmolean Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum and National Gallery, amongst others (including the famous paintings Mr & Mrs Andrews and Cornard Wood) will allow us to appreciate the breadth of Gainsborough’s oeuvre in an especially meaningful and important location.
“[Gainsborough’s] great innovation was to paint his own Suffolk landscapes rather than idealised classical scenes. Gainsborough was therefore a pioneer of the landscape art tradition in Britain”
– Calvin Winner, Director of Gainsborough’s House
“I fancy I see Gainsborough in every hedge and hollow tree,” said Constable of the Suffolk countryside, exemplifying the former’s artistic legacy in this beautiful county and the inspiration he provided for subsequent painters. As we wander along the banks of the River Stour, where Constable spent his “careless boyhood”, we will discover that Flatford Mill, Dedham Lock and Willy Lott’s cottage – immortalised in The Hay Wain – have changed little over two centuries. We will stroll through the country lanes of East Bergholt, where the artist’s first studio was located, and view his Ascension in Dedham’s parish church.
Our tour continues in the beautiful Stour Valley, where we will encounter the parish church of Stratford St Mary, an edifice that Constable painted many times. St James’s Church will also feature, with its altarpiece Christ Blesses the Bread and Wine, painted by the artist in 1809.
New for 2027, we also look forward to a privileged visit to the gardens at Benton End, near Hadleigh. Once the home of artist and plantsman Cedric Morris and painter and sculptor Arthur Lett Haines, in 1939 the pair established the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing – which later welcomed artists ranging from Lucien Freud to Maggi Hambling. The site is being revived as a “centre for artistic and horticultural study”, beginning with its wonderful gardens, and a visit here will afford a glimpse into Suffolk’s artistic legacy in the 20th century.
BENTON END GARDEN
Since its acquisition by the Garden Museum in 2021, a remarkable transformation of the gardens at Benton End has begun under the stewardship of Head Gardener James Horner. In the first phase of the project to revive and reopen Benton End as a new creative enclave in the spirit of Morris, Lett-Haines and the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, the Walled Garden first reopened to visitors in the summer of 2026.
Landscape designer Sarah Price’s ‘Nurture Landscapes Garden’, inspired by Morris’s garden and the bearded irises he famously bred there, won a Gold Medal at the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and brought Benton End – and the many cultivars which carry its name – to new audiences. The plants and materials of the Chelsea garden, which held sustainability at its heart, have been used to support the redevelopment and reimagining of the Walled Garden at Benton End.
Careful site analysis located ‘ghost bulbs’ and key surviving plants from the garden’s 1950s heyday, while rare plants once gifted by Morris to friends have been repatriated to Benton End. The overall composition provides an exquisite modern interpretation of the site’s artistic legacy. Irises give way to poppies as spring turns to summer; an elegant and painterly palette that nods to Morris’s much-loved flower paintings.
After many years in private hands, this is a new era for the garden and an unmissable opportunity to see a living work of art.
Tour Director
Sarah Burles
Sarah Burles is an expert in art history, an Arts Society accredited lecturer, and an experienced ACE Tour Director.
This tour will be led by Sarah Burles, MA, who studied History of Art at Cambridge before gaining a Masters at University College London and going onto a career in museum and gallery education, including 12 years at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Sarah is an accredited lecturer for the Arts Society, and runs online art courses as well as tours across the globe for ACE. She is particularly interested in the history of collections and the collectors whose legacies have shaped the museums we see today.
– ACE customer on the 2026 Constable & Gainsborough in Suffolk tour led by Sarah Burles
Our Accommodation
We will stay at the beautiful four-star Hintlesham Hall Hotel, a comfortable and traditionally decorated hotel occupying a 16th century Grade I listed manor house, set in 175 acres of Suffolk countryside. One of ACE’s most popular hotels, the hall has historical links to Gainsborough: it was purchased in 1747 by Sir Richard Lloyd, one of the artist’s early patrons, making it a particularly fitting base for our explorations.
Itinerary
Day 1
Assemble 1300 at Ipswich Station (for those travelling by train) or 1330 at Hintlesham Hall Hotel. Afternoon coach tour of Stour Valley and the Suffolk villages of Stoke by Nayland, Nayland and Stratford St Mary (churches associated with Constable). Three nights at Hintlesham Hall Hotel.
Day 2
Morning lecture: Constable’s Country – Artist & Landscape. Visit to East Bergholt (Constable’s birthplace) for walking tour viewing Constable’s first studio and the site of his parents’ house (exteriors), St Mary’s Church and bell cage. Afternoon: walking tour of Dedham with visit to St Mary’s Church (Constable’s The Ascension), views of Dedham Mill and Dedham Lock (featured in Constable’s paintings – exteriors) followed by Flatford Mill and Flatford Lock (subjects of many of Constable’s paintings), Willy Lott’s cottage (featured most famously in The Hay Wain – exterior) and site of Boat Building on the Banks of the Stour.
Day 3
Short morning lecture: Thomas Gainsborough – Portraits & Land-skips followed by private visit to the Munnings Art Museum (oil paintings and watercolours by Sir Alfred Munnings and antique furniture collection). Continue to Sudbury (where Gainsborough was born) for afternoon at Gainsborough’s House (newly developed galleries and special anniversary exhibition).
Day 4
Morning: Benton End (once the home of plantsman and artist Cedric Morris and painter Arthur Lett Haines and where they set up the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in 1939) followed by Christchurch Mansion. Tour disperses approx 1325 at Ipswich Station followed by approx 1345 at the hotel.
Frequently Asked Questions
To read our full list of frequently asked questions please visit our general FAQs here.
What is the maximum group size of this tour?
What is the deposit cost for this tour?
What tour staff will be on this tour?
Am I fit enough to travel on this tour?
Fitness Requirements
The majority of ACE Cultural Tours are active in nature. To make the most of our time in a destination and provide excellent value for money, they are busy – there are often several visits included each day. As such, our tours require a certain minimum level of physical and mental fitness, mobility and stamina.
Many visits will involve navigating several steps, uneven ground, steep ascents and descents, and could involve embarking and disembarking aircraft, coaches, trains and cruise vessels. Plenty of walking, punctuated by lengthy periods of standing, is the norm. Some tours may involve long coach journeys.
It is essential that all customers are sufficiently fit and able enough to fully participate. Furthermore, every tour comprises a group of guests. We cannot allow the entire group to be negatively impacted by one participant, either holding up the pace we reasonably need to maintain or disproportionately requiring the attention and support of the tour staff.
We carefully consider the intensity, fitness and other requirements of each itinerary and describe them on the tour pages of our brochures and website. Please study these descriptions closely. When you call to book, we will reiterate those requirements and ask you to confirm that all group members are indeed fit enough and otherwise able to meet the criteria. It is your responsibility to answer fully and honestly. If it transpires that you are not able to keep pace with the tour and/or it reasonably appears you are negatively impacting (or are reasonably likely to negatively impact) the enjoyment of the rest of the group (including their ability to complete all scheduled visits), we may ask you to sit out certain days/visits, take a taxi at your own expense (if available in the location), or even, if we consider there is no other reasonable alternative, ask you to leave the tour and make your own way home.
This tour will involve a significant amount of walking and standing, much of which is outdoors (including through a field in Dedham). There is uneven ground to navigate at times, for example over exposed tree roots, in the churchyards and at Flatford Mill, which has a gentle incline over bark-covered steps with a handrail. Please note that there is no lift at the hotel or at Christchurch Mansion, so participants must feel comfortable ascending and descending stairs. Furthermore, some sites can be dimly lit, and there can be heavy traffic in Sudbury so care should be taken. A good level of fitness and mobility is necessary, and participants should meet ACE’s fitness requirements in our Booking Terms & Conditions.
As a minimum, participants should be able to successfully complete the following self- assessment tests:
- Walk for one hour at a reasonable pace and without needing to take a break to rest
- Climb at least two flights of stairs at a reasonable pace
- Stand unaided for at least 30 minutes
- Stand up and sit down ten times in one minute
- Carry or otherwise move your own luggage
Please ensure you have read and understand our full fitness requirements as described in our terms and conditions.
UK Government Travel Advice
For additional travel information from the UK government please consult the following pages.
Cost Details
Constable & Gainsborough in Suffolk: 300th Anniversary Tour
July 5 - 8, 2027
Included: accommodation based on sharing a superior twin or double bedded room, three breakfasts, one lunch, three dinners with wine, water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.
Not Included: travel insurance, classic double room for single use supplement £225, superior double room for single use supplement £245.
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