History of the Parish

In the late 18th and early 19th century, Woodley was made up of 700 properties and pieces of land identified in records as “Wheble and Palmer Land”. This was named after James Wheble, a prominent Catholic and owner of Woodley Lodge, where, from 1802, Mass was first celebrated in the private chapel by a French émigré priest named l’Abbe la Blandiere, one of six then living in Reading. Wheble later donated the land on which St James’s Church in Reading was built, but died in 1840, the year it was completed. Ten years later, his son and heir married Lady Catherine, daughter of the Earl of Howth. Following the Catholic Hierarchy Act of 1851, he was appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1854. The population of Woodley was then 860. There is then no record of Mass being celebrated in Woodley until Easter Sunday, 17 April, 1938.

The parish of St John Bosco was established in 1946, and a church built in Woodley Centre, with the help of Reading’s Polish community. A hall was later added, and from 1956 served as a school run by the Sisters of Mercy from Abingdon. In the same year, the St John Bosco Convent School was opened, and in 1960 the parish centre was moved to Western Avenue. In 1966, St Dominic Savio Junior School was opened, with the Infant School opening its doors in 1974. In 1970, the current church was completed, and on Sunday 4 March 2007, it was officially consecrated by Bishop Crispian Hollis, Bishop of Portsmouth .

The parish priests who have served Woodley are:
Fr Daniel Rea (1946-1970 d),
Fr Thomas Lane (1946-1974 d),
Fr Roy Bennett (1974-1983),
Fr Brian Rutledge (1983-1990),
Fr Peter Hollins (1990-1997),
Fr Graham Attridge (1997-2001),
Fr Bonaventure Ndong (2001-2002)
Fr Joe McNerney (2002-2005)
Fr Chris Whelan (2005-2012)
Fr Bonaventure Ndong (2012-2017)
Fr Luca Speziale, Fr Rafaele Cosa (2017 - date)