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Netley Hospital

Defunct hospitals in EnglandHistory of HampshireHospital buildings completed in 1863Hospitals established in 1856Hospitals in Hampshire
Military history of HampshireMilitary hospitals in the United KingdomRoyal Army Medical CorpsUse British English from July 2015
Royal Victoria Military Hospital, Netley, Hampshire; from th Wellcome V0013983
Royal Victoria Military Hospital, Netley, Hampshire; from th Wellcome V0013983

The Royal Victoria Hospital or Netley Hospital was a large military hospital in Netley, near Southampton, Hampshire, England. Construction started in 1856 at the suggestion of Queen Victoria but its design caused some controversy, chiefly from Florence Nightingale. Often visited by Queen Victoria, the hospital was extensively used during the First World War. It became the 28th US General Hospital during the invasion of mainland Europe in the Second World War. The main building – the world's longest building when it was completed – was entirely demolished in 1966, except for the chapel and former YMCA building, which still survive. The extensive outbuildings, which once occupied a vast acreage of land to the rear of the main building, finally succumbed in 1978. The site of the hospital can be seen and explored in Royal Victoria Country Park. The hospital was situated within the larger area of land bounded by the River Itchen and River Hamble, particularly around Sholing that had become known locally as Spike Island. That term was subsequently used by wounded soldiers and prisoners of war to describe the location of the hospital.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Netley Hospital (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Netley Hospital
Hamble Rail Trail,

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Wikipedia: Netley HospitalContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 50.866591666667 ° E -1.3417472222222 °
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Royal Victoria Hospital Museum

Hamble Rail Trail
SO31 5GX
England, United Kingdom
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Royal Victoria Military Hospital, Netley, Hampshire; from th Wellcome V0013983
Royal Victoria Military Hospital, Netley, Hampshire; from th Wellcome V0013983
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Nearby Places

Royal Victoria Country Park
Royal Victoria Country Park

The Royal Victoria Country Park is a country park in Netley, Hampshire, England, by the shores of Southampton Water. It comprises 200 acres (81 ha) of mature woodland and grassy parkland, as well as a small shingle beach. From 1863 until 1966, the site was home to the Royal Victoria Hospital. The site was acquired by Hampshire County Council in 1969, who opened the park to the public in 1970.All that remains of the hospital is the chapel, which acts as a heritage centre providing history of the hospital. It also has a 150-foot (46 m) viewing tower, providing views over the park, and across Southampton Water to Hythe, and on a clear day, as far as Southampton itself. The site also has a park office and tearooms. The building housing this was built using 100 different timbers from around the UK and British Empire. It was originally built in 1940 by the YMCA for entertainment, recreation and relaxation for staff and patients at the hospital. There is also a miniature narrow-gauge railway the Royal Victoria Railway on the site which runs for around 1 mile (1.6 km). The park is home to a large variety of fauna and flora. The park can be reached on foot via a footpath from Netley Station, or there is ample car parking on site. The Netley Military Cemetery to the rear of the hospital site, primarily for patients, is accessible to the public by a private footpath and with a lockable security fence, a key to which can be obtained from the shop next to the tearooms. Among those buried here are 636 Commonwealth service personnel who died in the First World War and 35 in the Second World War whose graves are maintained and registered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who also care for the war graves of 69 Germans and 12 Belgians from the First and of one Polish soldier from the Second war.Southampton Water is an extremely busy shipping lane, with container ships and cruise liners, including the Queen Mary 2 using the port at Southampton as a base. In January 2014 it was announced that a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £102,000 would be used for restoring the chapel and revealing more detail of the former hospital.