Abbey Church Of St Michael

The Abbey Church of St Michael, located on Farnborough Road, was built between 1886 and 1887 by architect G H A Destailleur. It was commissioned by the Empress Eugenie as a memorial to her husband, Napoleon III, and features a crypt that serves as a mausoleum for Napoleon III, the Prince Imperial, and the Empress Eugenie, all housed in granite sarcophagi. The church is designed in a late French Gothic style, featuring an aisless nave, short transepts, and an apsidal east end. The crossing is topped by an octagonal tower with a copper dome and a lead-covered domed turret. The exterior showcases fine ashlar stone walling, pinnacled buttresses, an elaborate traceried parapet, and projecting gargoyles. The central doorway is flanked by buttresses that rise to pinnacles, with a circular window above featuring Flamboyant tracery, culminating in a traceried panel. The east end is supported by flying buttresses.