page_title: St Joseph's Church, Aldershot
section_title: Foundation
hierarchical_section_title: St Joseph's Church, Aldershot / History / Foundation
caption_attribution_description: English: Side view of St Joseph's Church from Queens Road
context_page_description: 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.'
context_section_description: 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's Church in Southampton, bought a new plot of land for St Joseph's 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.
  The presbytery adjacent to the church was built in 1874 for Fr Hall and is a locally listed building on the Rushmoor Borough Council list. The two-storey building with lower ranges to the rear is of red brick with a natural slate roof.
caption: Side view of the church from Queens Road, with the Presbytery to the left
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