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-*y fh+l* Thys liatticgh) VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE SOCIEIY OF SOITIE AFRICA VOLKSBOI'KUIIDIGE VERENIGING VA}I SUID.AFRIKA
SPRING EXCI'RSION TO CITRUSDAL 13-14 SEPTEIIBER 1997
ITINERARY
SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
0800 Depart Cape fown/Pinelands N7 past Malmesbury, Moorreesburg, Piguetberg Up Grey's Pass (l-858) ; rejoin N7 at Eop; down Piekenierskloof (1958) into Olifants River valley 1000 Museum, Sandveldhuisie, Signal cannon 1L00 Exit from town, pass Middelpos, Kleinvlei lL2O Mount Olympus L23O Karnemelksvlei l-330 Theerivier 1-430 Keerom/Onderplaas 1700 Plat,kloof
Lunch: Karnemelksvlei Dinner: Tangelo's at Cedarberg Lodge
SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
0900 Rock art. aE Stinkrivier L030 The Baths 1230 Modderfontein/Craig Royston 1430 Piekenierskloof Pass, Lake R365 Eo Porterville Main Road, Jan Dankaert,s Museum, Halfmanshof / 2q Rivieren 1530 Return on R44 via Wellingt,on and Agter Paarl 1730 Arrive Pinelands
Lunch: Craig Royst,on pm Tea: Port,erville: .Jan Dankaerts Museum TEE NORTEERN EIGET{AY
The Dutch seE,tlers started exploring short.ly aft,er t.heir arrival in 1652 but, found the way eastwards blocked by the Mountains of Africa or Hottentots Hol1and. So Ehey went north in search of the legendary Monomatapa, through the relatively easy terrain beLween the sea and the mountains. Many of t,he landmarks and farms t,hey described along their routes are still t,e be seen - as we shall find on our out,ward and return journeys.
TEREE PASSES OVER lEE MOI'NTATNS TO TEE OLIFAIITS RIVER
1. PIEKENIERSKLOOF
Jan Danckaert crossed the Olifants Mountains in L660 on a path point,ed out, by San. Pieter van Meerhof crossed wifh a wagon in 1652. The Piekenierskloof (from piqinier, pikeman) was the first pass over the Olifants Mountains aE Ehis poinE,. It was approached from further norE,h (via Eendekuil) and the actual crossing over the mount,ains was done in a south-easeerly direcEion.
An older pass was Kardouwskloof, dt t,he souEhern end of the Keerom valley which we shall be visiting.
2 GREY'S PASS
This was E,he first pass to be surveyed. and built by Thomas Bain. It was named after Sir George Grey and the ceremonial opening took place on 17 November 1-858.
During constructj-on Bain and family are said Eo have lived at The Rest,. In her book A colossus of roads Storrar shows a f.hatched cottage where she said they lived. It st.ill exj.sts on Modder- fontein, on the east side, now with corrugat,ed-iron roof .
The Rest is at the foot of the pass on E.he Piquetberg (wesL) side. The cottage has gone buE. there is a long shed-like building which may be 'rDie SEasie'1 where convicts lived. Corrugated-iron roof, nibs where rooms were divided. On the north side is a long raised stone st,oep with steps up to main entrance door with fanlight,. At iLs west end a small Victorian dwelling is attached (for supervisor?). According t,o the presenC owners this was the hotel, and subsequent.ly a st,ore. At the back is a room said Lo have been a ceIlar, with cement, vats for wine-making.
3 PIEKENIERSKLOOF
A new pass was start.ed in 1939 but, work stopped for the durat,ion of World War II. Work recommenced in the 1950s and was eonoplet,ed in l-958 by a team under Resident Engineer M P (Gielie) Loubser. The oldesE, name was re-used for the pass, whi-ch crosses Grey's Pass at the summit,. . ) f. i - ^ + .2 i . r !- - :' ''- e J - -^ -: i-_=.2 t.'1 = - ,AV; _:.
53: EEH.;E 5.bfH ;5;f; b! F{ d .rJ c'to o 6.-r -r c-r,+l tti c.r 6 6 t-* sl".afl E*;;g ltEi tfi Er$5$; El:ix:;Ert $*F.E:E f;EsF i* 3.i' ;;Bi;;ffifif* ;;tn*if9s!i:gEEHH; sFia;!HHa; ii$lHnEH sI;E; :E"eE,,rsE "uEss !!fi; 8"fi b{fE H:o;.9 E6>.e ig3 -'Eq> l3:i'- cri.:q>e"rlH#; pclr E"E:8il €&"!5.f e,lE #;lt;#;fi-,6ra i:ial; Ele;* En I;;,fn' frfiH:fI::q H 5?HsenI8Eq3 Hog qi,o sisoE* fr =!#ing n;5[t' gn-.gf;i;:: gHe;i; IH is:lsi8" 'fi;?gs ; xgl$.#re' iF il,i,, gs*; f; fr'$.;H H;H UH 8338 i,!E83833H#;i UE f;3gF-f;i*slrf, :r*g;HrdEuq-, :*,ti 'turn KLEINVLEI This farm originated as a loan-place, KE_DROM As its name indicates ( round'), this given out in 1?28. In 1839it was granted as quit- farrn lles at thc entl of thc Olifmts Rlver vnllcy S rent, with an area of nearly 1?00 morgen, to of Citrusdnl. It was a quitrent grant of ovcr 1 400 Schalk Willem Burger, Barend Frederik/sn. The morgen to Ilarend Jacobus Burger Willcm/sn, nucleus of the house sianding loday may have been made in 1839, It was an old loan-place beforc that built before 1820 - at least one flush casement date. winclowsurvlves. Thc house, or nt lcast the nuclcus of lt, musr Like several other houses in this pleasant valley, have been st:urding before the quitrcnt grnnt was that of Kleinvlei must have grown in various stages. made, for several casement winclowsof the prc- Whatever its original shape - probably just one 1820typc survive in front a-ndonc al thc back of row of rooms - it is now shaped like an irregular the front wing. It is a large alcl picturcsquc homc- I{, one side measuring about 34 m. This side, with stcad in thc vcrnacuiar stylc, such as arc found in its lnld-19c wlndows, ls later than the other wing, LhcC itrusdal-C Imrvilliam-p iqueLbcrgclistri cts . which has the only casement window, as well as a The first housesof the pionccr farmers tvcre sel- full-width kltchen hearth. The kitchen, plus the clom rcmoclclled in thc way that flrc carly Bola-ncl acljolnlng2 rooms, woulclappcar to be thc nuclcus Itouscs were, or turned into grand mansions by of the house. The house ls opgeklei and has clay raising walls, replacing casementsrvith sash floors and reed ceilings; the ends are half-hipped. rvindorvs,ard addinggablcs according Lo the fashions It is at present inhabited by 4 families, who each of the day. They were simply enlargecl, rvhcntl.Lc occupyone wlng. need arose, by acldingrooms or entire wings; the On the same werf stands a later homestead, T- original parts werc left unnltered. gable. Thus I(ccrom gr.ew present shaped and with a dormer Judging by its lo its shape which is : exterior woodwork, lt dctes from c1840, about the an irregular TT; and yet no part seems to be later tlme when [he quitrent grant was made. than the 1840's. It has a facaclemeasuring not Iess thnn 33 m; the 2 bacl PI,ATKIOOF This is a much more modest arrd probably also later homestead than Keerom, yet it is as interesting and attractive. Its walls are op- geklei, which gives a certain sculptural quality to the walls of this and many other homesteads in these districts. Its wings are only 5 m wide, and the thatch line in places is barely 2 m high. Its pian is rather complicated, somewhat like a small letter t; it probably consists of a nucleus in the shapeof a T, possibly dating from the 1820rs, to which a new part was addedduring the 1850's. At the tail end are the sheds, etc, under one roof with ELANDSKIOOF This farm was a quitrent grant to tho rcst of thc housc, ns nt l(ccrom; this part has Jacobus van Wyk, J.A.,isn, nnd Nicholaas Johnnnes no ceilings, whlle those of the dwelling part are of Ras M/sh, joinily, of over 2000 morgcn; Lheywerc spaansriet. The ends of lhe wings are half-hipped. brothcrs-in-law. In Li]46Vrn Wyl 'r :lir if,ilri.*1.r' t * i,p1' ; **: Lbtl IIODDERFONTEIN / CRAIG ROYSTON MODDERIfONTDIN This farm was a quitrent grml made to Abraham Jacobus Mouton Abraham/sn and Willem Erasmus Mouton, Abraham/sn, jointiy, in 1839; it was over 1500 morgen in size. Prior to 1839it had lleen a lorn-farm. It remaincd in the joint possessionof thcsc 2 Lrlothcrs until 185?, 1 when it was divided nnd transferred in 2 halves. {.,j The homestead on Modderfontein antedates thc i:;" quiirent gra.nt by at least 20 years, and was most probabiy built by Abraham Mouton. The house is now F-shaped, the orlglnal shape probably having been aT. It is one of the few'formal' housesin thc Citrusdal area, having a symmetrical facade and a - front gable though the latter is triangular ancl : later tha-nthe house. The windows in front are all half-casements; one at the back is fuil-width. The house probably dates from about 1810, but may be older. Some of the original ceilings survive. All end-gables are straight. The house, with its surrounding outbuildings, :,: -tr{'ry most of them thatched witir half-hipped ends, but ;;*t+ff#n4 one, a store-house, double-storeyed, is situated on stecply rislng ground. A high flight of steps Ieads up to the stoep of the house, which runs rlght round lts left side. The homestead was burnt out a few years ago, but, it is believed, will be restored. KARDOTM werf with Iow unplastered stone wal1. Two old barns with hipped c/i roofs at N end of werf. Line of buildings arong controur include oId shed and main house, unsympat.het.ically modernised. Lltt.le old watermil] at south end of werf , with stone waE,er- furrow to take water to wheel. No machinery; pit, not, fiIled up. ELA}IDSKLOOF A dif fuse set,t,lement on the Ceres road about 1-5 km east of Cit,rusdal. The land was returned Lo the community recently. The Dutch Reformed church building is sLi1l standing but not in use, and the school adjacent is much vandalised. The church and parsonagie are to be rest,ored for R0,5m, granted by the DR Church. There is a large rectangular Vict,orian building above t.he church, which may have been a house + shop. Otherwise all that remains of the original settlement is ruins of small stone cott,ages which had thatched roofs. The new settlement consists of squatt,er-Lype accormodat.ion in st.ructures of corrugated iron and planking, with some trup-market il 1og houses. F&C p 273, pic 275 See Elandskloof Nuusbrief No t, Feb t997 for future plans PORTERVILLE The town was founded in 1863 by F J Owen on his farm Pomona, previously Willemsvallei-, and named after William Porler, Lhe Attorney-General. The town attained municipal sEaLus in 1881. The first church was consecrated in 1-877 and a new DR church was consecrated in 1925. The Jan Dankaerts Museum is in the o1d magist.rate's court/ gaol (naCional monu- ment). A signal cannon, items from the school at Halfmanshof and many local - it-ems- are-on-di.splay.-. , Features of the Lown were/ are the old commonage, water furrow, large silos. Three interesting o1d buildings remain in t,he Main Road, which has been widened. The town has a roller miI1 and winery. There were water- miIls at Houdt ConstanE and Gelukwaarts. Iilllili TII POliTl:ltYILLll. HALFLANSEOF/VrER - EN- TWINTIG RMEREN Several farms are found in this historical area. Travellers went through here two centuries ago and left descriptions. The bulldings on the pict,ure were stiIl identifiable in the l-970s when Ronald Lewcock and Dirk Visser invest,igated Le Vaillant's drawing of his "Camp at Hans Liebenberg's homest.ead at Four-and- Twenty Rivers". VERNAEUTAR ARCHITECTTIRE SOCIEIT OF SOIITE AFRICA VOLKSBOUKT'IIDIGEVEREI{IGING VAN SUID-AFRIKA SPRING EXCT'RSION TO CITRUSDAL 13-14 SEPTEIIBER1997 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Vernacular Architecture Societ,y of S A thanks all who made iE, possible for the tour to take place and all who welcomed us into c,heir homes. The tour was planned by Joanna Marx, Thys HaCLingh and Micky Munro. The burden of admin fell on Joy Woodward and Micky Munro, to whom our special thanks. The tour not,es for participants were compiled and produced by Joanna Marx from sources acknowledged below, from personal communicat,ions and from information gleaned on the recce. Copyright c L997 by the Vernacular ArchiE.ect,ure Societ.y of South Africa, Cape Town REFERENCES Boeyens, B (19) Bronwat,ers van qenesinq, pp 53, 70-71. Human & Rousseau, Cape Town Fransen, H & Cook, M A (1980) The old buildings of the Cape. Balkema, Cape Town Lewcock, R B & Visser, D (1973) Francois 1e Vai1lant,. Traveller in South ,Af rica. 1-78L-1784. Vol 1. Library of Parliament, Cape Town Mossop, E E (1927 ) Old Cape highways. Maskew MiLler, Cape Town Obholzer, A M, Baraitser, M & Malherbe, W D (1985) The Cape house and its interior, p 2'78, figs 864-866. Stellenbosch Museum Platter, J & Plat,ter, E (L997) South African wines, pp 76-77, 108-109, L23 SLorrar, P (1984) A colossus of roads. Murray & Roberts/ Concor Truter, C (no dat,e) West Coast. A tourist gruide, p 101-L28. West. Coast Regional Services Council