Preston, Lancashire the many large active Roman Catholic parish churches is St Thomas of Canterbury and the English Martyrs, located on Garstang Road. Preston was the location of the world's first foreign mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly known as the Mormons). As early as 1837 the first Mormon missionaries to Great Britain began preaching in Preston and, in particular, other small towns situated along the River Ribble. Preston is home to the world's oldest continuous branch (a small congregation) of the LDS Church. An official memorial to the church pioneers may be found in the
Preston, Victoria 1966, by which time said dwellings accommodated approximately 11% of Preston population. The acquisition of former Housing Commission land by the Myer Emporium led to the opening of the Northland Shopping Centre in 1966. Currently, the suburb of Preston exists to the south of the original Preston municipal area. Suburbs which were once part of this include: Reservoir, Ruthven, Keon Park and Kingsbury. Preston is bordered to the east by the Darebin Creek, a small tributary to the Yarra River and consists largely of flat terrain, ideal initially for farming, but later for industrial and residential development. The original abundance