The Hay Wain exhibition draws in 21,000 visitors

The curator behind John Constable's Hay Wain painting exhibition said it was "phenomenal" that 21,000 people had been to see it.

Over the summer, thousands came to Christchurch Mansion to see the 1821 oil painting that had been on loan to Colchester and Ipswich Museums from the National Gallery, London.

The famous piece depicts a rural scene near the River Stour in Flatford, and on its final exhibition day on Sunday 1,000 people came to take a look.

Curator Emma Roodhouse said people had been left feeling "emotional and overwhelmed" by the work.

"We were inundated with visitors and amazing reactions from people who had never seen the painting before, from ages right the way to tiny babies to ninety-three-year-olds," she told BBC Radio Suffolk's Matt Marvel.

The Hay Wain is one of Constable's best known works, but despite capturing the Suffolk countryside it was actually painted in Constable's studio in London.

He had been born in 1776 in East Bergholt and during his career produced hundreds of paintings of the Suffolk countryside, many of the River Stour, which gave the area the name "Constable Country".

The Hay Wain has since been returned to the National Gallery with the help of a specialist art transport company, Roodhouse said.

"I've still not fully realised that it has all taken place, and we're now in the midst of planning our final Constable exhibition, so the fun doesn't stop," she added.

"Hopefully people will come back and we'll still keep talking about Constable for years to come."

The third and final instalment of the wider Constable exhibition runs from 24 October to 28 February, and highlights the artistic and cultural relevancy of his art today.

Do you have a story suggestion for Suffolk? Contact us below.

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.