The Hampshire County Lunatic Asylum opened in 1852 following the 1845 Lunitic Act, which standardised regional laws and proceedures for the treatment of the metally ill and required all counties in the UK to construct and run an institution to cover the county. The site of Knowle was chosen for it's location central to the county's largest towns of Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester.
The chapel was contructed in 1875 to service the population of almost 5,000 staff and patients and to free up space in the main building where a smaller chapel had been located.
The mental hospital continued to treat patients until 1996, since when the site has been redeveloped as a housing estate, with the historic chapel a feature in the centre of the village.
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