Site History

Royal Victoria Hospital

The Royal Victoria Hospital, when built, was Britain's largest military hospital. The main building was ¼ mile long, had 138 wards and approximately 1000 beds.

The need for such an hospital was realised during the Crimean War (1854 - 56) when the Army had no large purpose built hospitals to treat casualties. The site at Netley was chosen because it was close to the port of Southampton where hospital ships could arrive from all over the British Empire. The foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria on 19 May 1856 and the hospital opened for patients in 1863.

Florence Nightingale was keen to be involved with the design of Netley Hospital. However, when she eventually saw the site plans, she felt it was out of date but because construction had already started few changes were actually made. She also helped draw up early military nursing regulations. Many of the early military nurses who served at Netley did their civilian training at St Thomas's and other London hospitals. The first Army nurses to serve overseas left Netley in 1879 led by Mrs Deeble the Lady Superintendent (matron) to serve in the Zulu war.

Queen Victoria, before her death in 1901, visited Netley many times, either from Windsor by train or across the Solent by boat from her home, Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight. During these visits she awarded three Victoria Crosses to patients at Netley. One was received by Private Hitch (24th Regt.) in recognition for his bravery at Rorke's Drift in 1879, while Piper Findlater (Gordon Highlanders) and Private Vickery (Dorset Regt) both received theirs for actions in the Tirah Campaign on the North West Frontier of India.

From 1863 to 1902 Netley was also the home of the Army Medical School which trained civilian doctors for service in the Army. As many of the hospital's casualties were suffering from tropical diseases rather than gunshot wounds, the school was also used for medical research. Sir Almoth Wright, a professor of pathology, spent ten years at Netley. Much of his time was involved in research into the prevention of these diseases. He is most famous for his discovery of a vaccination against typhoid.

One of the doctors who trained at Netley was Dr Watson, the partner of Sherlock Holmes. His connections with Netley are mentioned on the first page of 'A Study in Scarlet' the first Sherlock Holmes book.

A pier was built, in 1865, to receive hospital ships from all over the British Empire. Unfortunately, the pier was too short to accommodate most of these ships. As a result, in 1900, a railway line was built from Netley station to the hospital to allow ambulance trains to come direct from Southampton docks. The railway was built during the Boer War (1899 - 1902) when Netley was very busy.

In 1914, when the First World War started, Netley expanded to accommodate approximate 2000 beds by building a large Red Cross hutted hospital in fields at the rear of the main hospital. Most of the staff at Netley were reservists or Red Cross VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurses as the small regular force was overseas. In total some 50,000 patients were treated by the main hospital and Red Cross hospitalduring the war. One of the patients was the war poet Wilfred Owen who was evacuated to Netley with shell shock and was later transferred to Craighlockhart hospital in Edinburgh.

In 1939, when Second World War commenced, Red Cross/St John's Ambulance staff were again mobalised for service at Netley. The hospital treated many casualties including those from the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. In 1944 American forces took over the hospital for D.Day and both US Army and Navy worked here. Some 68,000 casualties were treated before the Americans left in July 1945 (including 10,000 Germans who later became prisoners of War).

Close to the hospital, along a causeway through Cemetery Wood, is Netley Military Cemetery. Opened in 1864 it contains military graves of hospital patients and staff, and their families, who worked at the hospital. There are over 700 graves from the First War (including 69 Germans) and 37 from World War 2. The Cemetery closed in 1978.

After the war the main hospital building fell into disuse and became derelict from about 1955. In 1963 a large fire damaged vast sections of the building. In 1966 it was finally demolished leaving just the chapel which now contains a shop and historical displays. Apart from the main hospital, mention must also be made of D block (now Victoria House) which opened in 1870 as the Army's first purpose built military asylum. In WW1 some 15000 patients passed through D block, mainly for short term assessment, before going elsewhere. In 1941 doctors and mental nurses from Netley treated Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, who flew mysteriously to Scotland and became a prisoner .

From the 1950s to 1978, D and E block (later renamed Albert House) also treated Army (and from 1960, Navy) personnel who suffered from VD, drug and alcohol problems.

A parade through Netley village followed by a ball and firework display at the officers mess marked the closure of the hospital in 1978.

What now remains

There are a variety of buildings from the hospital's era which still survive today. You can see most of these by following our 'History Trail'. This trail is available, free, from the Park Office or the Heritage Centre.

The Hospital Cemetery

Of all the casualties brought to the hospital, only a small proportion (5%) died whilst in the hospital's care. The military cemetery was established and opened in June 1864 to accommodate service men, their families and workers from the hospital. It was strategically located out of view of the main hospital, in what is now referred to as Cemetery Wood.

These days, the cemetery is a very peaceful place, away for the activity in the centre of the country park. A visit to the cemetery will reveal the headstones of the young and old who lost their lives. Although all the military headstones (maintained by the War Graves Commission) are in good condition, many of the privately owned ones are in disrepair or have completely vanished. This is because the responsibility of maintaining civilian headstones was left to the relatives who often found the costs too great.

YMCA Building

Built in 1940, the YMCA was a place for recreation and relaxation. Re-couperating service men and hospital staff spent many an hour here playing snooker and reading etc. The building was constructed using 100 different timbers donated from all over the British Empire. Today it houses the Park Office, tea rooms and function room (Empire Room).

Officers' Mess

This grand building was constructed to accommodate the growing number of medical officers who arrived at Netley for service and training. The building was converted to private flats in the 1980s (no public access).

Hospital Railway Line

Parts of the hospital's branch line, which terminated behind the main building, are still visible today. In the car park behind the chapel you can see some of the original rails embedded in the ground.

What records we hold?

No official records are held on site. We believe that many records, such as admission books and personal data have not survived. A list of those buried in the cemetery is kept in the park office and is available for public inspection on request. Unfortunately, these documents have very little information about the deceased. Some historical material, including various photographs, are held in the Hampshire Record Office. Further information can be seen in the historical display in the Heritage Centre (former hospital chapel).