Tucked away in the attic of the presbytery we found, when looking for material about the church's history, a couple of boxes full of old books, minutes, bills and letters. We haven't had a chance to go through them systematically as yet, but what we did find were lots of fascinating old photos, some of which we've uploaded to the website, with more to come.
Here's a picture of the founder of the parish, Fr Joseph Sunn, with a nun. If anyone knows who she is, please contact me . The same applies to the other photos. If you know anything about the people in them, tell us.
The bishop (anyone know his name?) consecrating the church.
And did you know that the church was originally planned to have a tower? Here's what it was supposed to look like.
And this of course is what was actually built.
Moving from illustration to photograph.
A look from the direction of where the school playground is now.
Moving inside, this is what would have greeted you in the 1930s.
With a close up view of the original high altar (and a big thank you to Sean Carroll, who found this postcard on eBay and bid for it).
Fr Sunn seems to have been quite a character. Here's a photo from an interview with a local paper, showing him rolling up his sleeves and helping lay the foundations for what was to be his life's work.
Still, all the effort proved worthwhile when eventually the church was consecrated.
Which seems to have been a long winded and incense laden affair.
But after all that labour, still no rest. There's first Holy Communion for a start.
And lot's of other events too.
Not to mention dealing with the sisterhood.
But after all that labour there would eventually be rest.
Edited to add: we now have all these images and more available in a gallery where they can be seen in greater detail. So thanks to our designer, Marco Pozzi , and please take a look .