CAPE DUTCH ARCHITECTURE

Several readers commented on the striking appearance of the Cape Dutch architecture when I showed a picture of the historic Geelbek restaurant in the West Coast National Park:

The Cape Dutch architecture developed in South Africa, drawing on the Dutch architectural fashion at the time of ornate gables and high roofs. The thick white washed walls and small-paned sliding sash windows were designed to keep out the summer heat. The cooling effect was also enhanced in some cases with the addition of wooden shutters.

This architectural style evolved over a period of time from the 17th century through to the early 19th century. Here is a long view of the Manor House at Vergelegen:

As there was plenty of space on country farms, these Cape Dutch homes could spread out to include layouts forming a T and H or even a U. Probably the most iconic feature of this style is the central gable, which varies in design from a simple stepped gable to those which are embellished with scrolls. This rather simple gable has been incorporated in a home in the Eastern Cape:

Most homes are lime-washed in white, although some, like the Manor House at the Vergelegen Farm, have been painted cream. Doors, shutters and window frames are generally a dark green.

These homes have a central front door with a fanlight window above and is flanked by windows. Note that the windows immediately flanking the door are half the width of the other windows.Some of these doors are in the form of a stable door which can open in two halves – the advantage of this design is to that the upper portion can be kept open during the hot weather. Thatched roofs are well adapted to the sunny climate for it helps to keep the interior of the building cool. Cape thatching reed (Thamnochortus insignis) which is endemic to the Western Cape is used in a thick layer with a steep slope to ensure that rain water will run off with minimal penetration. Typically, an outside staircase led to the storeroom under the roof.

The early farm houses were single-storey, usually with three rooms. They tended to be rectangular in shape, with a wooden frame, wattle and clay walls, and shuttered windows symmetrically placed either side of the central front door. Floors were made of mud or dung inset with peach pits and polished to a shine. This is a typical early Cape Dutch style fisherman’s cottage in Arniston:

A RANGE OF BUILDINGS

Featured in this post is a range of buildings showing different styles and purposes. This is no architectural tour in the sense of line, form and general beauty. Instead it looks at purpose and gives a glimpse of perspectives through the ages. I start with a simple roadside picnic spot somewhere in the Western Cape:

Given the long distances one has to travel between towns in this country, it is wonderful to have dedicated spaces where one can safely pull off the road for a break. These picnic spots often have a large tree or two to provide shade – the thatched roof of this one is an indication that large trees are not abundant in this area. Concrete tables and stools are usually provided, along with a litter bin. The ones in the Western Cape are generally beautifully clean. I wish I could say the same of those in the Eastern Cape, which are poorly maintained with the litter bins seldom emptied and the tables and stools often broken or have disappeared.

Another simple and practical design is illustrated by this Forest Hut in the Addo Elephant National Park:

Built from timber, it is fairly spacious inside and each hut is screened from its neighbour by a thick hedge of natural vegetation. The ubiquitous braai is included and there is a microwave indoors. A well-equipped camp kitchen is a short walk away.

Far less attractive to the eye are the number of blockhouses in South Africa, remnants of the Anglo-Boer War. You can read more about this Geelbek Blockhouse near Laingsburg in this post: https://somethingovertea.wordpress.com/2022/06/11/geelbek-river-blockhouse/

Much more attractive is the Cape Dutch architecture as illustrated by this building in the West Coast National Park. Coincidentally, this building which dates back to about 1860 is also named Geelbek – after the Yellow-billed Duck:

A more detailed account of it can be read at https://somethingovertea.wordpress.com/2022/10/27/geelbek-visitors-centre/

We come to my home town of Grahamstown for the final two buildings. The first is the Albany Museum in Somerset Street, which was established in 1855. It is designed in the Cape Dutch Revival style:

Lastly, a visit to High Street one Remembrance Day to see both the City Hall and the Standard Bank:

The City Hall, built in 1882, is an example of Gothic Revival architecture, finished in rubble masonry, with cast concrete dressings. The Standard Bank was completed in 1934. The base of the building, the steps and the surrounds to the entrance doors are constructed in Roman stone, while the remainder of the facade is finished in a rough textured plaster – no glass and steel structures then: banks needed to look solid!

RESTORATION

I saw these men hard at work restoring one of the very old Settler Cottages in Grahamstown this morning:

STONE WALLS

I hope none of my readers have ever been stonewalled by someone who has persistently refused to communicate with you or even to express an emotion of any sort in your presence. I am told that this is called ‘unfriending’ these days. How awful!

Moving towards the literal interpretation of stone walls, I have a few local historical stone walls to show you. Here is a rough stone wall made of seemingly random rubble that was built in Port Alfred. As the stones are not of a uniform size or shape, they have been carefully arranged in order to distribute pressure over the maximum area whilst avoiding long vertical joints. The gaps appear to have been filled with what looks like a mixture of gravel and cement. This wall is all that remains of  the original fort in Port Alfred and is now incorporated as the boundary wall of a private home in Hards Street.

This dry stone wall at the Clay Pits in the Coombs area appears to have been begun with largely dressed stone, while the top layer consists of a loose collection of stones that may have been available in the immediate area. It is the only wall remaining of the original fortification at that site.

Much more sturdily built is the stone wall of the powder magazine in Bathurst. Made from local stone sorted into size with some roughly hewn ones in between. It was built in 1821.

This stone wall is part of the fortified farm at Barville Park, complete with loop holes. It consists of an interesting collection of local stones filled with cement. The grey vertical lines indicate where cracks have been filled with modern cement. In his poem, Mending Wall, Robert Frost explains that:

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

Several farms in the Eastern Cape, as well as in the Karoo National Park (where this photograph was taken) use a collection of rounded boulders loosely piled together as a buffer against potential soil erosion.

The Governor’s Kop signal tower was built in 1843 as part of a series of signal towers that relayed messages via semaphore from Fort Selwyn in Grahamstown via Governor’s Kop to Fraser’s Camp and so on to Fort Peddie and Fort Beaufort. It illustrates a far more sophisticated method of building stone walls. These stones have been built to course, shown by their straight beds and sides which have been levelled up to form courses of varying depth.

GREEN GREEN II

The Christy Minstrels sang:

Green, green, it’s green they say

On the far side of the hill

Green, green, I’m goin’ away

To where the grass is greener still

I have spent several weeks of this year looking at the far side of the hill, catching up with family in Norway, where the green hills, trees and grass are such a striking contrast to the more sombre colours we are used to. Here is a Norwegian house we passed on one of our trips in that country:

Then there was this amazing crop of courgettes picked in a UK garden:

Once home in South Africa, I appreciate the green bark of fever trees (Vachellia xanthophloea) with their characteristic, almost luminous, lime green to greenish-yellow bark. While these trees are familiar to me from my youth spent in the Lowveld region, they have become popular trees to plant in public gardens and parking lots all over the country. Rudyard Kipling has one of his characters in The Elephant’s Child, tell the Elephant’s Child where he must go in order to find out what the Crocodile eats for dinner as: Then Kolokolo Bird said, with a mournful cry, ‘Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, and find out.’

It is good to return after a two-week sojourn in the Western Cape to see the aloes in our garden growing well, their spiky leaves swelling with maturity:

Even though the String of Pearls succulent (Curio rowleyanus) – a gift from a friend – is relatively drought tolerant, it is a relief to note that it is thriving despite my neglect:

An even greater surprise – and relief – is to find that over 65mm rain fell during our absence. There were still droplets on the nasturtium leaves: