OS grid reference SU8601850634 Country United Kingdom Opened 30 January 1913 | Location Aldershot, Hampshire Denomination Roman Catholic Phone +44 1252 320956 | |
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Website Aldershot-Catholics.org.uk Founded 29 July 1869 (1869-07-29) Address Queens Rd, Aldershot GU11 3JB, UK Architectural style Romanesque Revival architecture Diocese Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth | ||
St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Aldershot, Hampshire. Built in 1913, it is situated at the top of a ridge on Queens Road, overlooking the town centre, between the Municipal Gardens and Princes Hall. It is a Grade II listed building. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described it as 'One of the most impressive churches of its date, brilliantly planned on a triangular site.'
Contents
Foundation
In 1869, the Bishop of Southwark, Thomas Grant appointed Fr Thomas Purcell to serve the local Aldershot Catholic population. He rented a building on the corner of Alexandra Road and Cambridge Road, opposite the former Franciscan Convent, to serve as a chapel and school. The chapel was opened on 29 July 1869. In 1871, before Fr Purcell's time in the area came to an end, he purchased the land, for £400, where the current church is located.
In 1871, the new priest, Fr Louis Hall, who came from St Joseph Church in Southampton, bought a new plot of land for St Joseph Catholic Primary School next to the same piece of land for the church. On 24 May 1883, a temporary church made of iron was opened and replaced the rented chapel as a place of worship for the local Catholic congregation.
Construction
In 1902, Fr Francis O'Farrell came to Aldershot and set about collecting funds to build a permanent church. After 10 years, enough money was collected, building work started and the foundation stone was laid by the Bishop of Portsmouth, William Cotter, on 12 March 1912. The church was designed by George Drysdale. The temporary iron church that was previously on the site was dismantled and reassembled on Belle Vue Road to become St Mary's Church. On 30 January 1913, St Joseph's Church was opened.
The architect George Drysdale needed to design as large a church as possible on a triangular site, symmetrical in design and within the funds available. It is built of red brick and tile, stone only being introduced into the floor and doorways. At the west end is a narthex and two altars, one each in the Lady Chapel and the Chapel of Holy Souls occupying the full width of the church at this end. There is a graduated decrease in the building's width towards the high altar which occupies a semi-circular position at the eastern end. The sanctuary is raised above the level of the nave while the altar is of a greyish-green marble, the original communion rails - since removed - being of the same marble relieved with a band of yellow marble and bordered with black marble. There is a semi-circle of five columns of black marble with capitals of carved white marble above which are open arches.
Establishment
In 1961, the nearby Secondary school All Hallows Catholic School was built in Weybourne, Surrey. It was funded by donations from the parishioners of St Joseph's Church. That year, a new Catholic church, St Saviour Church, was opened in the town to accommodate the expanding congregation in the town. In the 1980s, St Saviour Church was sold.
From 1962 to 1963, a permanent building was constructed for the nearby St Mary's Church on Belle Vue Road to replace its old temporary iron structure. In 1974, St Mary's became a parish church in its own right.
In 1973, St Joseph Catholic Primary School, next to the church was demolished and moved to another part of Aldershot. It was replaced by a new parish hall. On 22 June 1982, the church was consecrated.
Parish
There is one Sunday Mass held at the church, at 10:30am on Sunday morning. Every weekday morning, from Monday to Friday, there is a Mass at 9:30am in the church. St Joseph's church is in the same parish as St Mary Church on Belle Vue Road in Aldershot. St Mary's Church has one Sunday Mass at 4:45pm on Saturday afternoon.