Old Photographs of Woodbridge & Melton
This is the earliest photograph looking towards New Street.
The renaissance of Catholicism was slow to arrive in Woodbridge. In 1770 there was only one Roman Catholic living in the town out of a population of 2331. By 1801 there were 4 in a population of 3020 and the town remained strongly anti-Catholic. The bells of St. Mary's, Woodbridge, were pealed in protest when the Catholic Emancipation Act was passed in 1829.
By 1929 the number of Roman Catholics in the town had increased significantly. The dioceses responded by purchasing a former Public Lecture Hall and converting it into St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church.
Phot961 Next photograph in this series Previous photograph in this series