Hidden Histories: Royal Victoria Country Park

Join Ursula as she takes us on walk through time at Royal Victoria Country Park.

Watch the previous videos in this series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Enm1rr6VPQ&list=PLfDN1DOXMsjvL_-of6OSJSUit4A_NyMEK

Want to discover Royal Victoria Country Park’s history for yourself? Plan your visit here: https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/countryparks/rvcp

Subscribe to our channel: https://bit.ly/HCSsubscribe

Leave a comment below!

—————————————————————–

Follow the #HampshireCountrysideService

Facebook: https://bit.ly/HCSFacebook
Twitter: https://bit.ly/HCSTwitter
Instagram: https://bit.ly/HCSInsta

—————————————————————–

About Hampshire Countryside Service

We’re here to protect and develop Hampshire’s Countryside. We’re in charge of the seven country parks across the county. Whether it’s the improvements we’ve made to public paths, showcasing local events or information about Hampshire’s many areas of natural beauty our YouTube channel can help you make the most of your countryside.

About Manor Farm

A historic working farm set in a scenic landscape of farmland and ancient woodland on the banks of the River Hamble. Come to the farm to meet the animals, feed the ducks and the chickens, watch the farmer milk the cow, experience what life on a farm was like in the early 1900s in our historic farmhouse, and take part in a lesson in our Victorian schoolroom.

About Queen Elizabeth Country Park

Hampshire’s largest Country Park, over 600 hectares of land located within the South Downs National Park. Home to some of the best mountain bike trails in Hampshire.

About Royal Victoria Country Park

This historic country park in Netley, Southampton is home to The Chapel which brings to life the rich history of the military hospital that once dominated the site of the Royal Victoria Country Park.

About Lepe Country Park

Located on the edge of the New Forest and with stunning views from Hurst Castle to Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower, watch the windsurfers skimming the water, boats sailing out of the Beaulieu River or the ships coming into Southampton Water. Or why not Lepe back in time, and discover more about Lepe’s significance not only during World War 2 but also the Cold War, with a trip to our D-Day remains and our monitoring post.

About Staunton Country Park & Farm

A Country Park that offers the wildness of the countryside, historic landscapes and the enjoyments of an ornamental farm with a range of fantastic animals!

About Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve

A nationally renowned nature reserve, a celebrated refuge for ducks, geese, wading birds, and the rare Avocet.

About River Hamble Country Park

Visit River Hamble Country Park for a walk by the river or through the woodlands, hire a BBQ site, have a picnic on the wide open fields, let the children play on the play equipment, have a go at crabbing down on the pontoon, or grab a cuppa in Barnfield!

Hello, I’m Ursula and I’m the Heritage Officer here at Royal Victoria Country Park. We’re here today to discover some of the history of this fascinating site. So, come with me as we take a walk around, discover how Royal Victoria Country Park came to be in this episode of Hidden Histories.

The Royal Victoria Hospital was built at the suggestion of Queen Victoria in response to the poor conditions experienced by soldiers wounded during the Crimean Wars. Once the site was identified, land was purchased from the vast Chamberlayne family estate here at Netley. The hospital was built between the rivers Itchen and Hamble,

And the area became known locally as Spike Island. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the hospital in a ceremony here in May 1856 and we’re going to go and take a look at the foundation stone now. Underneath the foundation stone, they placed the signed plans

Of the hospital and a box containing a Victoria Cross medal, the first that was made and the only one given without a named recipient. As well as that, a set of Crimean War medals and coins of the realm that were in use at that time.

Construction of the hospital began in 1856, it took seven years to complete and the hospital opened to patients in March 1863. When the hospital was built, it was the world’s longest brick-built building, around a quarter of a mile long. Where we are now, we’re standing inside what was the hospital

Corridor that ran the full length of the building. The hospital had 138 wards with beds for around 1000 patients split into a medical wing on one side and surgical wing on the other. Where the garden is in front of the chapel today, that was an administration block for the hospital with the offices

For the hospital’s chief of staff and their clerks, and the waiting room and initial examination rooms for the patients. Here, where we’ve just reached is where one of the main operating theaters was on the ground floor. The hospital, as well as the wards also had accommodation for its staff, the medical staff,

The doctors, the nurses and all of those supporting functions as well. As well as stores, offices, a library, the hospital’s post office, all the treatment rooms, a pathology lab. The list goes on and on. And in the center of each wing were the kitchens and the dining rooms

That allowed the staff to cater to the thousands of people who worked on this site. With the hospital corridors being a quarter of a mile long, there were many interesting ways for staff to get around the building. We know, for example, that the postmen used bicycles up and down the wards

To deliver post and to take messages to different parts of the hospital. In the Second World War, control of the hospital was handed over to the Americans in the build up to the D-Day landings, and it’s said that they drove Jeeps up and down the wide hospital corridors.

It was certainly wide enough for them to be able to do that, although there were steps and doorways that might have made that tricky. We can’t prove whether that story is true or not but as they say, never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

The walls and gate behind me surround Victoria House. When the hospital was here this was known as D-block, the psychiatric treatment centre at the hospital. In the First World War, this is where patients suffering from shell shock were brought to be assessed and treated.

This included the war poet Wilfred Owen, who was assessed here at Netley as a patient in the Red Cross hospital for nine days after being brought back from France, suffering from what was then called nervous exhaustion. This part of the hospital, the psychiatric hospital, was the bit that stayed open the longest.

It didn’t in fact close until 1978. Now, it’s part of Hampshire Police Southern Training Headquarters. Despite its size and grand appearance, the hospital wasn’t well designed and its design was heavily criticised both by Florence Nightingale and the then prime Minister, Lord Palmerston. For example, all the wards for the hospital came off

From the corridor facing towards the back where it was colder and darker rather than towards the sunny south-facing Southampton Water. There was poor ventilation. Florence Nightingale raised concerns about infection control and the air being mixed up in the hospital corridor meant that there were nasty

Smells throughout the building, what she described as a hospital atmosphere. There were many parliamentary commissions held to look at the state of the building and the choice of site. At one point they even thought about not building it as a hospital, but instead turning it into an army barracks,

So I guess we’re quite fortunate with what they did do with it in the end. The Royal Victoria Hospital was built on Southampton Water, so it was easy for patients to be brought in by ship. A pier was built behind me here that extended 170 metres

Out into the water for the hospital ships to dock. However, it was only about half its original planned length. It didn’t go out to the deep water channel and that meant that patients instead had to be transferred onto shallower draft vessels to be brought into the pier

And taken up to path into the hospital building. Later, the hospital ships were sent into Southampton docks, where patients could then be brought round by road or later on the railway. During the Second World War a break was made in the pier

To prevent it from being used in the event of any German invasion. It was never repaired and the pier itself was demolished by the 1950s. With all the problems with the pier, patients had to be brought to the hospital by train. Initially, the railway line only ran as far as Netley station.

But in 1900, again at the request of Queen Victoria, a branch line was built that came right in here at the back of the hospital site. In fact, on her very last visit to the hospital in 1900, Queen Victoria used this railway branch line and described it as a remarkable achievement.

It was quite tricky at times for the trains to navigate the gradient here. In fact, the weight of the trains with all their heavy hospital carriages meant that sometimes they had to have a locomotive at each end to travel the three quarter of a mile long length of line.

We’re now going to head down to the Netley Military Cemetery, which is just a short walk about 10 minutes away at the back of the hospital site. We’re here at the Netley Military Cemetery. This site is owned by the Ministry of Defense and managed on their behalf by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

There are 750 war graves here, mainly from the First World War 714, and only 36 graves from the Second World War. As well as the war graves, there are also about 3600 burials from earlier in the hospital’s history, including those of patients but also hospital staff and their families.

In the war graves section where we are now there are, not only the burials of UK and Commonwealth soldiers, but also 65 German burials from the First World War as well. And you can tell that they are the German burials

As their headstones have a pointed shape to the top rather than the curve that’s used for the others. We’re here in the Cedar Rooms café and restaurant, which used to be a YMCA recreation hut for the hospital. The first recreation hut was put in in the First World War.

This one replaced it in 1940 and was funded by the Timber Federation. When you come inside and have a look round, you’ll see that it’s made with 100 different types of wood from right around the world. A beautiful thing to see and there’s a map on the wall

That shows you where all those woods came from as well. So, you can appreciate the history when you step inside and enjoy your cups of coffee and pizza, too. The Royal Victoria Hospital was like its own little self-contained town, it had its own gasworks, electricity generating station.

It had stores, a laundry, bakery, post office, barber shop, everything that you would need. But it’s interesting that the village of Netley Abbey itself grew up because of the hospital being built here. The village of Netley Abbey was first listed under that name on the Ordnance Survey Maps from 1861.

The village developed between the hospital and Netley Abbey, particularly along Victoria Road and Station Road, all sorts of houses and businesses, but all related to the operating of the hospital site. The problems with the hospital building and the high cost of maintenance

Meant that after the Second World War many of the wards didn’t reopen and patients were sent to better facilities elsewhere. The whole hospital closed to patients in 1958 and the building stood empty for many years. In June of 1963, there was a fire that caused

The roof of the building that we’re in now, the central building to collapse and damage to the wings on both sides. And further damage was caused that winter when pipes froze and burst, causing flooding throughout the building. That and the fact that the army were unable to secure a buyer for the site

Led to the building being demolished in 1966. In December 1966, the foundation stone was lifted and the box that was placed underneath it by Queen Victoria was found and its contents were able to go on display. That’s now in the Army Medical Services Museum, the Museum of Military Medicine at Aldershot.

Thanks very much for watching. If you’d like to know more about the history of this site, there were exhibitions in the chapel behind me where you can also buy copies of our souvenir guidebook and our trail booklets that you can use to find your own way around this important site.

Don’t forget as well, for more wartime history, you can have a look at the video that came from our sister site at Lepe Country Park. Like and subscribe, keep up to date with our channel and find more videos in the Hidden History series.