Monument record TQ 57 NW 102 - River Hospitals Tramway, Joyce Green

Line of former tramway between Long Reach Hospital (TQ 57 NE 83) on the Thames foreshore and Orchard and Joyce Green Hospitals (TQ 57 NW 45) built c 1902. Now present as field boundary and earthwork. Site photographs (1-20). No visible remains at this point, the hospital area has been demolished, parts of the tramway may survive but are not visible to the field walker (21)

The Orchard 3rd Auxiliary Military Hospital tramway was built by the Metropolitan Asylum Board (MAB) in the 1890s to transport smallpox patients and supplies between river ambulance steamers and hospitals near Dartford. Initially planned in 1893, the horse-drawn tramway opened in 1896, running along a causeway from Long Reach pier to temporary hospitals and later to Orchard and Joyce Green hospitals. The single-track line, with passing places and a 4ft gauge, expanded to 3.4 miles at its peak. It played a vital role during epidemics, including the severe outbreak of 1901–02, and during World War I, when it carried both fever and military patients. Despite trials with motor traction in 1914 and 1924, electric traction was never adopted. The River Ambulance Service ceased in 1932, after transporting over 45,000 patients, and the tramway was last used in 1936 before being dismantled for scrap in 1943. (22)

<1> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9409.

<2> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9642.

<3> 1945, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9686.

<4> 1945, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9687.

<5> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9768.

<6> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9769.

<7> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10031.

<8> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10032.

<9> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10038.

<10> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10039.

<11> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10050.

<12> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10051.

<13> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10054.

<14> 1944, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10060.

<15> 1941, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10126.

<16> 1993, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10744.

<17> 1994, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10760.

<18> 1994, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10761.

<19> 1994, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10768.

<20> 1994, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10769.

<21> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, North Kent Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey: Phase ll: Field Assessment Year Two Report (Unpublished document). SWX12323.

<22> Young Archaeologists Club, 2018, The Orchard 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Tramway Survey (Unpublished document). SKE52763.