Old Photographs of Woodbridge and Melton

During the 1840s developments started which significantly changed the lower part of New Street. The first step was the building of St John’s Church which was consecrated in 1846. The entrance to Castle Street became known as St John’s Hill and a number of roads were laid out around the church to enable future developments. These roads included St John’s Street and Little St John’s Street.

The most notable of the new buildings had a round front. It was between the entrances to St John’s Hill and St John’s Street. Until 1904 it was Alfred Barnes’ showroom for ‘superior second-hand and antique furniture’.   It later became an estate agency.

This imposing building was on the right of the entrance to St John's Street.

By the 1940s the land behind the fence of the left of this photograph had become part of Oak Lane Car Park. There was access to the car park from both New Street and the Thoroughfare.

On the other side of the road there was the cabinet making and undertaking business run by P J Richardson,

Below Little St Johns Street there were cottages and other buildings built before 1838.  Most of this site was used in 1975 to build a public library.  During this work it was found that the drain installed in the 1860s to carry the Naverne brook under the road was near to collapse. The drain had been formed by digging a deep channel, covering it by logs, and then putting the road surface on top. During the 1975 redevelopments it was found the road was near to collapse because the logs had rotted.

There is speculation that one of the building demolished to make way for the library was the Jubilee Hall. It was built between 1881 and 1904 and it was on the other side of a passageway which is alongside the Salvation Army Hall.