Cathedral of St Michael and St George, Aldershot

Cathedral Church of St Michael and St George serves as the Roman Catholic cathedral for the Bishopric of the Forces. It is located in Aldershot, England. The church was designed in 1892 by two military engineers and, because the building was originally intended as the principal church for the Anglican chaplaincies of the British Army, the foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria. The trowel she used in the ceremony is exhibited in the cathedral’s west porch. However, the church was subsequently not required for this purpose and it eventually became the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Forces instead.

Long, red-brick and with a tall tower topped by a red-brick spire, the church is a prominent local landmark. Above the main door is a relief of Saint George standing over the slain dragon. The yellow-brick interior has broad aisles and a wide nave of five bays of Early English style arches and a debased Romanesque clerestory of two windows above each arch. The cathedral has many fine stained glass windows, of saints and Biblical scenes, by Heaton, Butler & Bayne. The ornate east end, with a rich mosaic on the reredos portraying the Last Supper, contrasts with the simplicity of the rest of the chancel, which was reordered to provide room for a free-standing plain altar. The chancel furnishings are sparse and modern. On the south side of the chancel, the bishop's throne is a simple, substantial wooden chair, surmounted by a banner. The cathedral is sometimes the venue for musical concerts.