Netley Hospital

Netley Hospital
Line engraving of Royal Victoria Military Hospital from Southampton Water produced by T. A. Prior in 1857
Shown in Hampshire
Geography
Location	Netley, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	50°51′59.73″N 1°20′30.29″W / 50.8665917°N 1.3417472°W / 50.8665917; -1.3417472
Organisation
Care system	Public NHS
Type	Public
Services
Emergency department	No Accident & Emergency
History
Opened	1856
Closed	1978
Links
Lists	Hospitals in England

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.^[1] The main building – the world's longest building when it was completed – was entirely demolished in 1966,^[1] 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 site had a railway station, which was connected by the Netley Hospital Branch Line.

The hospital was situated within the larger area of land bounded by the River Itchen and River Hamble, particularly around Sholing^[1] 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.