In 1989 the Sudbury Freemen’s Trust financed the installation of comprehensive floodlighting outside St. Gregory’s Church. Thirty years later, it is still an impressive sight for drivers and pedestrians in Gregory Street as it brightens up the darkness by providing a stunning view of the Mother church of Sudbury. 

In December 1886, the great Sudbury historian W.W. Hodson lectured on ‘old Sudbury’. He was referring to the late 18th century and early 19th century town at a time when the streets and lanes were unlit and unpaved, with obstructions such as open sewers and ditches. There were very few public lamps and women carried horn lanterns. Almost everybody believed in ghosts and witches and few people would have dared to walk through the churchyards in Sudbury after dark. Ghosts were said to be seen on the leads of the churches or dodging among the white tomb stones.