Emergency Services Orpington started to fully develop at a time where centralisation of all the emergency services, we take for granted today, was being taken seriously. Imagine a time when you had to pay for it all and if you couldn’t, you were left to get on with it yourself! St Mary Cray developed first and the first private hospitals were located there. The Metropolitan Police were formed and took over law and order from the local Parish Councils and set up in St Mary Cray. Orpington Hospital started off as a Military Hospital for Canadian wounded soldiers from WW1. The Ontario Hospital would become one of the most famous landmarks in the area for many generations. Princess Royal University Hospital (Farnborough) was the original Workhouse for the area!