On 4th Oct 1893, the Isle of Thanet Hospital board was formed in order to discuss proposals for a suitable site for a new hospital. It was felt that the Northwood Hospital for infection, opened in 1877, was too small to fulfil needs of the Isle, especially as it was now a thriving resort. The site chosen was Haine, where the boundaries of Margate and Ramsgate meet. This choice of site was not agreeable to everybody and caused what one local newspaper called in 1900 'the battle of the sites'. The argument finally resolved and Bertram Langham and George Osbourne were appointed as the Hospital architects on 4th May 1898. W W Martin of Ramsgate won the building contract with a tender of £49,545. Haine Hospital was originally known as the Isle of Thanet Joint Isolation Hospital and was opened 29th October 1900. The ceremony was attended by local dignitaries including Councillor McFarlane, the Mayor of Margate who arrived in a horse drawn carriage with an escort of mounted Police and Alderman Hodgson, the Mayor of Ramsgate. The Right Hon Member of Parliament, James Lowther, was presented with a silver trowel to lay the foundation stone which was inscribed with the name of the hospital, the opening date and the names of those present. In a cavity beneath the stone there was placed a bottle containing a copy of a national paper and one copy of each of the local papers. The hospital consisted of self contained units for different infectious diseases and a separate isolated building solely for small pox. There were 110 beds in the hospital to cater for patients infected with illnesses such as chicken pox, diphtheria, mumps, polio, whooping cough, typhoid fever, scarlet fever and may others. The first smallpox patients arrived in March 1902. By the autumn of that year, patients with other diseases were taken in. The old Northwood hospital was burned to the ground in 1903 by the Ramsgate Fire Brigade to stop any infection spreading from the buildings. Haine hospital was run by the Isle of Thanet Joint Hospital Board until 5th July 1948 when the newly formed NHS took over. >From 1955, patients from Hill House Dermatological unit were transferred to Haine and in 1961 the hospital began to take in geriatric patients. Haine hospital closed in June 1997 and the site stood empty until demolition work began in 2003. The Marks and Spencer Store was built on its site. When Haine was being demolished, a security Guard called Geoff Eales was capturing the progress of the development at Westwood and was going to write a book about it. I have no idea if its in circulation yet. He was inspired by the changing landscape so started to catalogue pictures and newspapers clippings dating back to 1902. I met him once as my Grandfather died in Haine Hospital in 1970 and I was interested in finding out more. With his wife, Geoff amassed a huge album of pictures after the hospital missed out on being listed and permission for Westwood Cross came before its Centenary. The nurse quarters were beautiful but neglected over the years and fell into disrepair. A £250,000 survey of the site by archaeologists turned up nothing exciting despite 260 pits dug, but they did find the remains of the old mortuary just below ground level. A wall engraved with WW2 soldiers names and the foundation stone was going to be incorporated into the shopping complex, I wonder if anyone has noted this. Apparently the stone was missing its newspapers. 35 Bricks included rank and number and are thought to have been engraved while the men were sitting in the 'sun trap' as they recovered from their injuries. They could be Canadian soldiers, officers sometimes spent weeks at the hospital recuperating from their injuries before returning to action or going home. Come to think of it, I am sure Local Historian Barrie Wootton wanted to write a booklet about the hospital but again, have seen neither of these books in circulation. Suzannah From: "Mike Langston" < mike@langston-online.co.uk> Subject: [ISLE-OF-THANET] Haine Hospital Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 18:24:34 +0100 I was sent to Haine Isolation hospital during the 1960's. It made me wonder if anyone knows the history of Haine Hospital. I believe I read it started in 1897 and closed in 1985. It stayed shut and abandoned until it was knocked down for Westwood Cross, is this correct? Also was it always an isolation hospital? Any ideas anyone Thanks Mike

Suzannah Thats great, alot of information, not sure if I'm answering this to you or the thread. Thanks again Mike Langston