Swanley Heritage No 9 - Hospitals in or near Swanley (Update No1 - 20 December 2011)

Around the end of the 19th Century Swanley became the place for hospitals. This was mainly determined by the quality of the air which at that time was one of the best "aired" places in England. Also, the close location to Charing Cross (to Swanley Junction railway satatio) which travellers would find convenient, and hence make Swanley attractive to them. Finally, Swanley was on the road from London to Maidstone, and near the old Roman highway - Watling Street - the London to Dover  road.


Three hospitals were located at Swanley, namely:


1   Kettlewell Convalescence Hospital (which was also known as Alexandra Hospital). It was built in 1885 and was situated on London Road on a large site opposite the present day Swanley Police Station where its gates can still be seen.


2   Parkwood Convalescence Hospital (Beechenlea Lane) was built in 1893 for recovering surgery patients. During World Wars 1 and 2 it was a military hospital and specialised in treating facial injuries. It closed about the middle of the 1960s and then became the LCC's Junior Firemen's College and is now Parkwood Hall School.


3   White Oak Hospital (may also have been known as St Bartholomew's Hospital) was built in 1897 and closed in 1959. It was an eye hospital for children in its earliest days but was a military establishment in World Wars 1 and 2. The present day community centre Woodlands was part of White Oak School on the hospital's site and hospital's chapel became St Bartholomew's Roman Catholic Church.

Modern Hospital Services
At present hospital services are mainly provided by Darent Valley Hospital (DVH) but patients needing specialist treatments are sometimes re-routed to a London hospital or elsewhere in Kent. DVH and Medway hospital(s)(?) are being merged in 2012 so there is some uncertainty in my mind of the prospect of difficuties for patients needing to travel from Swanley to somewhere in the Medway towns.