page_title: Rotunda, Aldershot
section_title: The Rotunda
hierarchical_section_title: Rotunda, Aldershot / The Rotunda
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the Rotunda at w:Aldershot in w:Hampshire
context_page_description: The Rotunda was a Primitive Methodist church in Aldershot in Hampshire in the UK that was completed in 1876 and demolished in the 1980s. While the building took its name from the architectural form rotunda, it was in fact octagonal, and was notable as one of only 14 octagonal chapels built by the Methodists.
context_section_description: Built with red brick and slate roof on the corner of Victoria Road and Albert Road for the Primitive Methodists in Aldershot, construction began in 1874 and completed in 1876. Built on land obtained from benefactor Richard Allden, a local contractor who supplied hay for army horses, the £16,500 for its construction was raised by voluntary subscription and donations. The architect was Farnham-based Thomas Wonnacott, who chose an octagonal design familiar to Methodists. The construction was undertaken by local builder George Kemp.
  A report in the Primitive Methodist 1875-76 Yearly Report said:
  "At Aldershot, the great military depot, we have built a schoolroom and house for the minister; the chapel is in course of erection. Several soldiers have been converted, among them, three young men, sons of ministers. Early in 1875 we opened our school room, which is now used as a temporary church."
   
  The original church was named as 'The Primitive Methodist Church' and following the unification of Wesleyan and Primitive Methodism in the Methodist Union of 1932 it was sold to the Reformed Episcopal Church of England when it was renamed Christ Church. 
  The building was unique in its octagonal construction and in the number of commemorative plaques on its interior walls. Adjacent to the church was once the Christ Church Hall (originally the school room for the Methodist church) which had four foundation stones laid on 15 December 1874: one dedicated by William Terry; one by Mary Allden; a third by the scholars of the Methodist Sabbath School, while the fourth stone was defaced and the inscription illegible. The church building also had four foundation stones on its Victoria Road frontage which bore the date 22 March 1876. Inside the church were seven segments of seats while the eighth segment contained the dais or pulpit. This type of seating eliminated any precedence among the congregation.
caption: The Rotunda as Christ Church in 1958
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