Abbey Church of St Michael is a Grade I listed building in the Rushmoor local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 January 1959. A 1886-87 Church. 10 related planning applications.
Abbey Church of St Michael
- WRENN ID
- sharp-pinnacle-indigo
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Rushmoor
- Constituency
- Aldershot MP: Alex Baker (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 28 January 1959
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Abbey Church of St Michael, Farnborough Road, GU14 7NQ
- OS grid reference
- SU 872 560
- Coordinates
- 51.29715, -0.74956
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
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.
Local climate
Abbey Church of St Michael receives an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 74% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 64% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 10 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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