RESTORATION of an iconic Hampshire building will be set back several months after the contractor went into administration.

Historic Netley Chapel based in Royal Victoria Country Park, Netley, was being revamped as part of a £2.68 million Lottery funded project.

However, the company responsible for its restoration, Wilding Butler, has gone into administration.

The chapel is the last remaining part of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital built at the suggestion of Queen Victoria.

Work started on the chapel in August and the Grade II listed chapel was due to re-open in the early autumn of 2017.

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said the work could be delayed by about six months.

She said: “The company that won the tender and started the works at the Chapel unfortunately went into administration in August.

“Whilst this will have an impact on the completion date for the works, both the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Hampshire County Council are fully committed to conservation of the chapel.

“Work will restart as soon as possible with a new contractor completing the restoration.”

The spokesman added that the council had not paid any money to Wilding Butler for the work.

Hampshire county councillor Andrew Gibson, executive member for culture, recreation and countryside, said: “We are disappointed by the circumstances.

"We didn’t have any inkling when we appointed them.”

The council has already chosen a new company to undertake the work – Brymoor Construction Ltd – and the date for the works completion is now set for March/April, 2018.

Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the military hospital on May 19, 1856 and it was finally opened in April, 1863.

It was a grand imposing building, and reputed to have once been the world’s longest, being more than a quarter of a mile long.

Over the years the hospital cared for more than 1,000 soldiers returning from wars across the world.

However in 1963 fire destroyed part of the central block and the main building was demolished in 1966, leaving just the chapel and a few outbuildings.

It is intended that the lottery and county council funded scheme will remove the chapel’s 1980 extension and conserve the original façade.

A new pavilion will be built to the side with a kiosk, toilets and offices, allowing the chapel to host music and cultural events.

The conservation work to the chapel will include the replacing the original ornate hand-painted glass windows which had been vandalised.

A new staircase will be installed as well as a lift to improve the currently limited public access.

Following these works, a new exhibition will be created to tell the story of the former hospital, from its beginnings in the 1850s, through the Boer War and both World Wars, including important medical advancements made at the site, such as the discovery of the vaccine for typhoid.