Joyce Green Hospital
| Joyce Green Hospital | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Dartford, Kent, England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°27′49″N 0°13′36″E / 51.4636°N 0.2268°ECoordinates: 51°27′49″N 0°13′36″E / 51.4636°N 0.2268°E |
| Organisation | |
| Hospital type | Isolation, later training |
| Services | |
| Beds | 1,902 at maximum extent |
| History | |
| Founded | 1903 |
| Closed | 2000 |
Joyce Green Hospital was a hospital near Dartford, Kent, England. Opened in 1903 as an isolation hospital, in latter years it was a training hospital. The hospital was closed in 2000 and the buildings were demolished.
The hospital was planned in the late 19th century to accommodate sufferers of smallpox, which had reached epidemic levels in London. It replaced three hospital ships based nearby in Long Reach, Gravesend 15 miles downriver from London Bridge on the Thames. The ships, the Atlas, the 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. 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.
Designed by the Metropolitan Asylums Board architects A & C Harston, 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. The building of the hospital was delayed due to disagreements with the Local Government Board over the proposed size. 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, 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). 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. 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.
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