It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the Royal Victoria Country Park.

In 1536, Netley Abbey was dissolved as part of the Dissolution of the monasteries, with the buildings being converted into a Tudor mansion.

In 1542 or 1544, Netley Castle was constructed as part of the Device Programme to defend The Solent from French invasions.

[1] The area which now forms all of Netley, as well as Weston, was inherited by William Chamberlayne, MP for Southampton.

Throughout this period, negotiations surrounding leases of the land for development were undertaken, which allowed the village of Netley to finally take shape, with the population being 827 in 1852.

This growth was exacerbated in 1856, when HM Government bought a large part of this estate, to construct a new military hospital.

[2] The oldest part of Netley retains the feel of a somewhat old-fashioned and quaint village, with some traditional small shops, a post office, a library and rows of colourful terraced cottages.

[4] Since the closure of the Netley Military Hospital in 1979, the village has been flanked to the east by Royal Victoria Country Park.

Opened in 1897 as part of the Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, it was gifted to the parish council by Tankerville Chamberlayne.

Bluestar operate a half-hourly bus service to Southampton via Woolston and Hamble via Butlocks Heath, numbered '15'.

National Cycle Network route 2 passes through Netley, on its way from Dover to St Austell.