Joyce Green Hospital

Last updated

Joyce Green Hospital
Joyce Green Hospital, near Dartford. Wellcome L0006810EB.jpg
Kent UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Geography
Location Dartford, Kent, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°27′49″N0°13′36″E / 51.4636°N 0.2268°E / 51.4636; 0.2268
Organisation
Type Isolation, later training
Services
Beds1,902 at maximum extent
History
Opened1903
Closed2000

Joyce Green Hospital was a hospital near Dartford, Kent, England. It opened in 1903 as an isolation hospital. In later years it was a training hospital. The hospital was closed in 2000 and the buildings were demolished. The greenspace where the hospital used to stand is known as Joyce Green.

Contents

Background

The hospital was planned in the late 19th century to accommodate sufferers of smallpox, which had reached epidemic levels in London. [1] It replaced three hospital ships based nearby in Long Reach, Gravesend 15 miles downriver from London Bridge on the Thames. [2] [Note 1] The ships, Atlas, Endymion and the Castalia, were made fast in 1883 at their new custom built moorings, they were in-line, connected by bridges 150 yard from the riverbank. [3] The ships had become unsuitable for their role due to increasing maintenance costs, the risk of collision from passing ships and the increasing demand for beds for smallpox patients. [4]

History

Designed by the Metropolitan Asylums Board architects A & C Harston, [4] the hospital was built on the former Joyce Green estate, whose area totalled 218 acres (88 ha). Planning for the building of the hospital began in 1893. [5] [1] The building of the hospital was delayed due to disagreements with the Local Government Board over the proposed size. [1] A 4 ft (1,219 mm)-gauge tramway connected the pier with the main hospital. It was built in 1893, ahead of the construction of the main buildings. Dick, Kerr & Co. were responsible for some of the work. Horse-drawn trams were used. Initially, second-hand trams were used, converted to 4 ft gauge. As the trams were unsuitable for the hospital, [5] they were replaced in 1908 by a fleet of at least five purpose-built ambulance trams. At its maximum, the tramway extended to 3.6 miles (5.8 km). [4] A severe outbreak of smallpox in late 1901 increased the demand for beds. A temporary set of buildings was erected near the River Thames, where a pier would be erected to enable patients to be brought in by boat. This first set of buildings was known as the Long Reach and opened on 27 February 1902. [4] [6] Another set of temporary buildings were erected to the north-west of the main hospital. Known as The Orchard, they opened later in the spring of 1902, providing 664 beds. [7]

The Joyce Green Hospital opened in 1903 with a capacity of 986 beds. [8] From 1907, the Long Reach and Orchard sites housed smallpox patients. The main hospital housing diphtheria and scarlet fever cases, and later also catering for measles and whooping cough patients too. [4] The threat of smallpox had subsided by 1910. [9] During World War I, The Orchard was used as a military hospital, mainly catering for Australian troops. [7] In July 1914, a motor vehicle was trialled for the haulage of the tramcars. Although successful, none could be spared and the idea was dropped. [5]

In June 1918, the hospital housed 1,140 Russian refugees who had been in contact with smallpox. [4] A Talbot ambulance was used to haul two trams at a time in 1924–25. [5] Electric lighting was installed at the hospital in 1926. [4] The Long Reach was maintained in a condition of instant readiness, with a skeleton staff at all times. The original buildings were replaced in 1928–29 by permanent facilities providing 252 beds. [6] In 1930, the hospital came under the control of London County Council. [4] An outbreak of smallpox saw the Long Reach buildings brought into use between 1931 and 1934. [6] The tramway was in use until 1936 and the rails were lifted in 1943. [5]

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the Emergency Medical Scheme was established. Joyce Green Hospital became a general hospital. Between 1944 and 1946, part of the site became a Dutch military hospital. [4] The buildings that formed the Orchard were mostly destroyed by fire during the war. Those that survived were converted to agricultural use. [7]

In 1948, the hospital became a National Health Service hospital. [4] On 31 January 1953, the Long Reach site was nearly flooded due to a storm surge. [6] In the 1950s, the hospital became used as a training ground for fever nurses, due to the existing facilities for treating infectious diseases. [10] The Long Reach site treated its final patients in 1973, and the buildings were demolished two years later to facilitate the construction of a new flood barrier. [6]

After services had been transferred to Darent Valley Hospital, the hospital closed and was demolished in 2000. [11] Joyce Green remains as heathland. [12]

Prior to it’s closing, the hospital was used for the music video of Northern Irish pop band, The Divine Comedy’s 1999 top ten hit, "National Express" where it was portrayed as a Psychiatric Hospital. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital ship</span> Ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. In the 19th century, redundant warships were used as moored hospitals for seamen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast City Hospital</span> University teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities

The Belfast City Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block dominates the Belfast skyline being the third tallest habitable storeyed building in Northern Ireland. It has a focus on the development of regional cancer and renal services. It is managed by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and is the largest general hospital in the United Kingdom. In April 2020, due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the tower block was designated one of the UK's Nightingale Hospitals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highlands Hospital</span> Hospital in England

Highlands Hospital was a hospital in Winchmore Hill, in the London Borough of Enfield which closed in 1993. The site was redeveloped for residential accommodation, although many of the original buildings remain. The site is designated a conservation area and the former ambulance station is a grade II listed building.

HMS <i>Atlas</i> (1860) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Atlas was a 91-gun second rate ship which was never completed and spent her entire service in reserve or as a hospital ship. She was launched in 1860, and lent to the Metropolitan Asylums Board for use as a hospital ship in 1881, and sold to them in 1885. Atlas served until 1904, when she was sold for breaking.

HMS <i>Endymion</i> (1865) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Endymion was a 21-gun Ister-class wooden screw frigate, the third of four ships of this name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was the last wooden frigate built at Deptford Dockyard. She was commissioned in 1866 and spent much of her service based at Malta. In 1869–70 she sailed around the world as part of a Flying Squadron. She remained in front-line service until 1874.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambeth Hospital</span> Psychiatric hospital in Lambeth, London

Lambeth Hospital is a mental health facility in Landor Road, South London. It was previously known as the "Landor Road hospital" and is now operated by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and is affiliated with King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry. It is also part of the King's Health Partners academic health science centre and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health.

PS <i>Castalia</i>

Castalia was a 1,533 GRT twin-hulled paddle steamer that was built in 1874 by the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Leamouth, London for the English Channel Steamship Company. She was acquired by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1878 but had already been laid up by then and was not operated by the LCDR. In 1883, she was sold to the Metropolitan Asylums Board and converted to a hospital ship. She served until 1904 and was scrapped in 1905.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coldharbour, Tower Hamlets</span> Street and wider conservation area in Blackwall, London, England

Coldharbour is a street and wider conservation area in Blackwall, lying on the north bank of the River Thames, east of Canary Wharf. The area is said to be "[t]he sole remaining fragment of the old hamlet of Blackwall" and "one of the last examples of the narrow streets which once characterised the river's perimeter".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heartlands Hospital</span> Hospital in West Midlands, England

Heartlands Hospital is an acute general hospital in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, England. It is managed by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darent Valley Hospital</span> Hospital in England

Darent Valley Hospital is a 478-bed, acute district general hospital in Dartford, Kent, England. The hospital has an Emergency Department. The hospital is managed by the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brook General Hospital</span> Hospital in London, England

The Brook General Hospital was the westernmost of three hospitals simultaneously situated on Shooter's Hill in southeast London in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It closed in 1996, and most of its buildings were subsequently demolished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Joyce Green</span>

Joyce Green, at Long Reach, near Dartford, was one of the first Royal Flying Corps (RFC) airfields. It was established in 1911 by Vickers Limited who used it as an airfield and testing ground. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the RFC followed and established a base. Subject to frequent flooding and a reputation as being unsuitable and too dangerous for training, it was eventually replaced by a more suitable site at RAF Biggin Hill.

St James' Hospital was a healthcare facility in Balham, London that existed between 1910 and 1988. The hospital buildings occupied sites within the boundary of Ouseley Road, Sarsfield Road and St James's Drive Balham London SW12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Cross Hospital, Deptford</span> Hospital in London, England

New Cross Hospital was a hospital in the New Cross district of south east London, open from 1877 until around 1991.

Fulham Hospital was an English hospital in the west London district of Fulham from 1884 to 1973. From 1957 onwards it was merged with the Charing Cross Hospital and was gradually demolished. Charing Cross Hospital relocated from central London and now occupies the former Fulham Hospital site, south of St Dunstan's Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dulwich Community Hospital</span> Hospital in London, England

Dulwich Community Hospital was a hospital located in Dulwich, in South London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Hill Hospital</span> Hospital in Kent, England

West Hill Hospital was a health facility in West Hill, Dartford, Kent, England. It was managed by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fever hospital</span> Hospital for infectious diseases

A fever hospital or isolation hospital is a hospital for infectious diseases such as Scarlet fever, Tuberculosis, Lassa fever and Smallpox. Their purpose is to treat affected people while isolating them from the general population. Early examples included the Liverpool Fever Hospital (1801) and the London Fever Hospital (1802). Other examples occurred elsewhere in the British Isles and India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh City Hospital</span> Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Edinburgh City Hospital was a hospital in Colinton, Edinburgh, opened in 1903 for the treatment of infectious diseases. As the pattern of infectious disease changed, the need for in-patients facilities to treat them diminished. While still remaining the regional centre for infectious disease, in the latter half of the 20th century the hospital facilities diversified with specialist units established for respiratory disease, ear, nose and throat surgery, maxillo-facial surgery, care of the elderly and latterly HIV/AIDS. The hospital closed in 1999 and was redeveloped as residential housing, known as Greenbank Village.

Long Reach is a low-lying area north of Dartford, Kent, in southeast England, on the south side of the River Thames, east of Erith and the River Darent. It was the site of a pub, a fireworks factory, a smallpox hospital and, from 1911, a Vickers airfield that later became RAF Joyce Green. It also gives its name to a Thames Water sewage treatment works.

References

Citations
  1. 1 2 3 Ayers 1971, p. 100.
  2. ↑ Mayon-White & Yorke 2013, p. 192.
  3. ↑ "Hospital ships moored at Long Reach". workhouses.org.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "The Joyce Green Hospital, Dartford". Workhouses.org. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tramway". Dartfordhospitalhistories.org. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Long Reach Hospital, Dartford". Workhouses.org. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "Orchard Hospital, Dartford". Workhouses.org. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Ayers 1971, p. 191.
  9. ↑ Ayers 1971, p. 181.
  10. ↑ Currie 2013, p. 68.
  11. ↑ Mayon-White & Yorke 2013, p. 193.
  12. ↑ Simmonds, Cara (20 July 2022). "Crews still fighting fires in Dartford". Kent Online. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "London – Captured in Music Videos". A London Inheritance. 24 December 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
Notes
  1. ^ The three ships were Atlas, Castalia and Endymion.
Sources
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.