Construction started in 1856 at the suggestion of Queen Victoria but its design caused some controversy, chiefly from Florence Nightingale.

The extensive outbuildings, which once occupied a vast acreage of land to the rear of the main building, finally succumbed in 1978.

[2] Encouraged by Queen Victoria[1] and aided by the friendship[2] between Florence Nightingale and the new prime minister, Lord Palmerston, the fresh political climate allowed a large military hospital to be planned and constructed.

The board in charge of the project was appointed by Lord Panmure and chaired by Colonel T. O'Brien, the Deputy Quartermaster General, and was to keep closely in touch with Smith to ensure that the views of medical officers on the design were respected.

[6] The inscription read: This stone was laid on the 19th day of May in the year of our Lord 1856, by Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the foundation stone of the Victoria Military Hospital intended for the reception of the sick and invalid soldiers of her Army[6] Some confusion was caused by the publication in The Builder of unrevised plans for the hospital.

In January 1857, Prime Minister Lord Palmerston wrote: It seems to me that at Netley all consideration of what would best tend to the comfort and recovery of the patients has been sacrificed to the vanity of the architect, whose sole object has been to make a building which should cut a dash when looked at from Southampton River.

[8] Subsequent reports and enquiries concluded that the design and its location were indeed flawed,[9] though, under the influence of Dr John Sutherland, Nightingale eventually expressed approval for the plans.

Supporting infrastructure was also built, including a reservoir at Hound Grove[4] and a gasworks[8][12] In 1863 Nightingale's colleague Jane Catherine Shaw Stewart became the Supervisor of Nurses, but she was there for just five years before an investigation revealed her bullying and temper.

[13] She was replaced by Jane Cecilia Deeble who was awarded the Royal Red Cross for her work "in Zululand".

[20] In 1864, a Portland stone memorial was erected, dedicated to the members of the Army Medical Department who died in the Crimean War.

In 1867, journalist Matthew Wallingford paid a visit to the hospital to write a report for the local parish newsletter: It was a ghastly display of deception to say the least.

[22] The hospital was particularly busy during the Second Boer War (1899–1902) which, when the project was further encouraged by Queen Victoria,[17] provided the impetus for extending the railway line.

The first thing that confronted anyone entering the imposing central tower block was a large museum of natural history and anatomical specimens, reflecting the interests of many of the doctors.

It also accommodated some Hungarian refugees in 1956, but due to its high cost of maintenance, it gradually fell into disuse, and the main site closed in 1958.

These buildings were also used from the 1950s to 1978 to treat Army (and from 1960, Navy) personnel who suffered from sexually transmitted diseases, drug and alcohol problems, and later the Joint Armed Services Psychiatric Unit.