Mixture of Old and New Photographs of Woodbridge and Melton
Beyond Burkitt House, Chapel Street ran along side Ship Meadow, which is named after the Ship Inn which once stood where the Beaumont Chapel now stands.
Ship Meadow Walk crossed the valley and linked Chapel Street and Castle Street.
Across Suffolk the vernacular for sheep was 'ship'. The meadow between Chapel Street and Castle Street was thus referred to as 'ship' meadow. Hence the often repeated claim that ships were able to reach Bredfield Street. An amazing feat when you consider that The Thoroughfare is 5 meters above sea level and that Ship Meadow is 15 meters above sea level.
This photograph shows the valley between Chapel Street and Castle Street. The Naverne Brook flows along the bottom of the valley and this is where the fleeces from the sheep were washed and dried. The earliest maps of the area shown sheds near the brook and presumably they were associated with the production of wool.
The sheds survived the building of Lockwood Close which is the background of this photograph.
The sheds also survived the building of the row of six houses were eventually built along side Chapel Street.
At the end of this line of houses there is a very attractive building named The Garden House.
