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The chapel is all that remains of the hospital today
The Royal Victoria Hospital, or Netley Hospital was a large militaryhospital in Netley, near Southampton, Hampshire, England. Constructionstarted in 1856 at the suggestion of Queen Victoria but its designcaused some controversy, chiefly from Florence Nightingale. Oftenvisited by Queen Victoria, the hospital was extensively used duringthe First World War. It became the 28th US General Hospital from 1944to 1945, during the Invasion of Europe. The main building - theworld's longest building when it was completed - was entirelydemolished in 1966, except for the chapel and former YMCA buildingwhich still survive. The extensive outbuildings, which once occupied avast acreage of land to the rear of the main building, finallysuccumbed in 1978. The site of the hospital can be seen and exploredin Royal Victoria Country Park.
The hospital was situated within the larger area of land bounded bythe River Itchen and River Hamble, particularly around Sholing thathad become known locally as Spike Island. That term was subsequentlyused by wounded soldiers and prisoners of war to describe the locationof the hospital.
During the Crimean War (1854 to 1856), news of dreadful conditions inmilitary hospitals in the Crimea caused political concern in England,and contributed to the fall of the government in 1855 due to'Mismanagement of the War'. Encouraged by Queen Victoria and aided bythe friendship between Florence Nightingale and the new PrimeMinister, Lord Palmerston, the fresh political climate allowed a largemilitary hospital to be planned and constructed .
Netley on the shore of Southampton Water was first suggested as a sitefor the new hospital by Sir Andrew Smith, and was settled on after therejection of co-location with the Naval Hospital at Haslar. The Boardin charge of the project was appointed by Lord Panmure and chaired byColonel T O'Brien, the Deputy Quartermaster General, and was to keepclosely in touch with Smith to ensure that the views of medicalofficers on the design were respected. 109 acres (0.44 km2) of landwas purchased from Thomas Chamberlayne's Netley Grange Estate on 3January 1856. Later that year, developing plans meant that furtherland was required, which was compulsorily purchased from Chamberlayne.Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone on 19 May 1856, concealingunderneath a copy of the plans, the first Victoria Cross, a CrimeaMedal and coins of the realm.The inscription read:
This stone was laid on the 19th day of May in the year of our Lord1856, by Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britainand Ireland as the foundation stone of the Victoria Military Hospitalintended for the reception of the sick and invalid soldiers of herArmy
Some confusion was caused by the publication in The Builder ofunrevised plans for the hospital. Moreover, the influential FlorenceNightingale, still busy in the Crimea, was not involved in the initialdesign. On her return she was able to highlight flaws in the designand politicise them. In January 1857, Prime Minister Lord Palmerstonwrote:
It seems to me that at Netley all consideration of what would besttend to the comfort and recovery of the patients has been sacrificedto the vanity of the architect, whose sole object has been to make abuilding which should cut a dash when looked at from SouthamptonRiver. Pray stop all work.
But construction was well under way, and it was too late to change thedesign significantly.Subsequent reports and enquiries concluded thatthe design and its location were indeed flawed, though, under theinfluence of Dr John Sutherland, Nightingale eventually expressedapproval for the plans.
The hospital eventually opened for patients on 11 March 1863, It was aquarter of a mile (435 m) long, had 138 wards and approximately 1,000beds, and was Britain's largest military hospital. It cost £350,000 tobuild, and was late and over budget. Supporting infrastructure wasalso built, including a reservoir at Hound Grove. and a Gasworks. Acast iron pier was extended into Southampton Water in 1865, restrictedto 560 ft (170 m) in length and not reaching deep water. A railwayline connected Netley to Southampton docks on 5 March 1866. At thesuggestion of Queen Victoria, the line was extended into the groundsof the hospital on 18 April 1900. In 1903, an electricity generatingstation was built.
In 1864 a Portland stone memorial was erected, dedicated to themembers of the Army Medical Department who died in the Crimean War.
Early use:
The building was enormous, grand, and visually attractive, but wasneither convenient nor practical. Corridors were on the sea-facingfront of the building, leaving the wards facing the inner courtyardwith little light and air. Ventilation in general was poor, withunpleasant smells lingering around the vast building.
In 1867, journalist Matthew Wallingford paid visit to the hospital towrite a report for the local parish newsletter:
' It was a ghastly display of deception to say the least. To the nakedeye it is a triumph of modern architecture, but should you inherit themisfortune to be sectioned there, one would not think of the place asso. It is not so much as the greatest military hospital in the worldas much as it is a rather impractical waste of government finance.'''
Early patients arriving from campaigns taking place all over the worldduring the expansion of the British Empire had an uncomfortablejourney to the hospital, either having to be transferred to ashallow-draft boat if landing at the pier, or transported from Netleystation to the hospital if arriving by rail.
The hospital was particularly busy during the Second Boer War(1899-1902) which, when the project was further encouraged by QueenVictoria, provided the impetus for extending the railway line. Theextension terminated at a station behind the hospital but was awkwardto operate, having gradients which were quite steep for a steamlocomotive. Some trains needed a locomotive at each end to travel that3/4 of a mile.
The railway and pier were also used for Queen Victoria's frequentvisits to the hospital, she often arrived at the pier having beenconveyed in the Royal Yacht from her residence on the Isle of Wight,Osborne House. She awarded three Victoria Crosses to patients at thehospital.
From its construction until 1902, Netley Hospital served as the homeof the Army Medical School, training civilian doctors for service withthe army. In A Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson recounts his earlier lifebefore meeting Sherlock Holmes; it is established that Watson receivedhis medical degree from the University of London in 1878, and had goneon to train at Netley Hospital as a surgeon in the Army. As manypatients were suffering from tropical diseases, the hospital was alsoused for medical research. The first thing that confronted anyoneentering the imposing central tower block was a large museum ofnatural history and anatomical specimens, reflecting the interests ofmany of the doctors, not the patients.
World Wars[edit]
During World War I, a large Red Cross hutted hospital was built at theback of the site, which expanded Netley Hospital to accommodate around2,500 beds.Many of the staff were Red Cross volunteers, as most of theregular staff were overseas. Some 50,000 patients were treated atNetley during the war.
Similar usage was seen during World War II, when around 68,000casualties were treated. In 1944, US Forces took over the hospitalprior to D-Day.
Decline:
The interior of the chapel today, acting as a visitor centre.
After the war, the hospital continued to care for some casualtiesreturning from overseas service. It also accommodated some Hungarianrefugees in 1956, but due to its high cost of maintenance, itgradually fell into disuse, and the main site closed in 1958.
In 1963, a large fire damaged much of the building, and it wasdemolished in 1966, with only the chapel retained. A ceremonyuncovered Queen Victoria's time capsule beneath the foundation stoneon 7 December 1966.
At the rear of the site, D Block (Victoria House) and E Block (AlbertHouse) formed the psychiatric hospital. D Block was opened in 1870 asthe army's first purpose-built military asylum. These buildings werealso used from the 1950s to 1978 to treat Army (and from 1960, Navy)personnel who suffered from VD, drug and alcohol problems, and laterthe Joint Armed Services Psychiatric Unit. The unit moved to the QueenElizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich in mid-1978.
Today, only the hospital chapel remains of the main building. Thechapel was originally scheduled for demolition, but was saved at thelast moment as a monument to the hospital. The site is now open as theRoyal Victoria Country Park. The chapel is open as a visitor centre,presenting history of the hospital, and the tower provides views ofthe surrounding area.
Some buildings at the rear of the site, including the former asylum,are used as the Hampshire Constabulary Police Training Headquarters.The Officers' Mess, just to the west of the former main building, hasnow been converted into private flats. To the east of the park andaccessed by a roadway closed to traffic is a military cemetery.