Farms, signal cannons and outspans along the West Coast

While the new Dutch settlement at the Cape traded out of necessity with the neighbouring Khoekhoen, one could hardly describe the relationship as friendly, and the authorities made deliberate attempts to restrict contact. Partly as a consequence, VOC employees found themselves faced with a labour shortage. To remedy this, they released a small number of Dutch from their contracts and permitted them to establish freehold farms, on condition that they supplied only the VOC settlement from their harvests. This arrangement proved highly successful, with these farmers producing abundant supplies of fruit, vegetables, wheat, and wine; they later raised livestock. The initial small group of free burghers, as these farmers were known, steadily increased and began to expand their farms further north and east into the territory of the Khoekhoen. The VOC also established Gouvernments Plaatsen (Government Farms), which were managed by officials in its employ, and leningsplaatsen (loan farms), for which farmers paid rent.

As Europeans moved further into the interior, they drove the beleaguered Khoekhoen from their traditional lands and in some instances seized their cattle. Tensions over loss of pastures between 1654 and 1659 resulted in open conflict in the first Khoekhoe-Dutch war from 1659-60, in which the Khoekhoen suffered heavy loss of life. The newcomers also brought diseases which had devastating effects on people whose immune system was not adapted to them. Most survivors were left with no option but to work for the Europeans in an exploitative arrangement that differed little from slavery. The VOC also began importing large numbers of slaves, primarily from Madagascar and Indonesia. Over time, the Khoesan, their European overseers, and the imported slaves mixed, with the offspring of these unions forming the basis for today’s mixed race or 'coloured' population.

In 1672, war broke out between the United Provinces of Netherlands and both Britain and France. Fearing that its settlement at the Cape might come under attack, the VOC declared itself the rightful owner of the Cape district, which included Table Bay, Hout Bay and Saldanha Bay. The Dutch East India Company claimed that it had purchased the land from Osingkhima, leader of the Khoekhoe group known as the Goringhaiqua, with brandy, tobacco and bread!

WEST COAST FARMS

The first Dutch farm that one encountered as one headed out of Cape Town and up the west coast was Welgelegen (Well Situated), in the area known as Rustvliet, next to the Salt River.

The next farm was Paarden Eiland (Horses Island), which had received this name in honour, according to some authorities, of the wild horses or zebras which flourished there in the days of Van Riebeeck, or, according to others, of the more familiar donkeys and mules pastured there by the settlers. 

Then, in the area now known as Brooklyn, one came to the farm d'Yzere Plaat ("Iron Plate", named after the thick layer of koffieklip or ferrocrete that covers the area). Part of this suburb is still known as Ysterplaat. In the census of 1810, Willem Caesar and the widow Priem, as well as her two children, are listed as residing at d'Yzere Plaat, which is described as a hay farm belonging to Mr J.P. Eksteen. It records that there were two draft oxen there. 

A little further along the road, one encountered Klein Zoar, reputedly the farmhouse of dairyman and folk hero Wolraad Woltemade, whose story I tell next. Dating back to the early 18th Century, this house has recently been lovingly restored. With its thick thatch roof and sturdy structure, positioned on the edge of the Zoarvlei wetlands, Klein Zoar is the oldest surviving house along the West Coast.

Photographs taken by Arthur Elliott reveal that there was once a lime kiln at Klein Zoar. It was first clearly identified on an 1806 map when the property was owned by Hendrik Loofs and named 'Loofskraal'. It was a stone-walled cylinder surmounted by a dome. It seems quite probable that it had originally had a tall chimney. It was being used to accommodate a labourer when Elliott visited the site. The whole structure was covered with lime plaster, as was the farmstead itself. From the early days of Van Riebeeck's time at the Cape, bricks were found to weather badly, so it became essential to coat them in lime plaster. This was produced by burning seashells in lime kilns, which were constructed all along the coast, including on Robben and Dassen Islands.

                                                                                                                 Arthur Elliott, Cape Archives E. 1917

                                                                                            Source: S.Afr.J . Cult. Art Hist. 1987, 1(1) Early Cape lime-kilns, James Walton

To the north of Klein Zoar lay Groot Zoar (on the property now occupied by the Brooklyn Chest Hospital). The farm was subsequently bought by a German named Johann Rentzkie, who had settled at the Cape in 1834. He bred horses and kept merino sheep. It became known as Rentzkie’s Farm after that. The Cape Government bought the farm during a smallpox epidemic in about 1870 and set up an isolation hospital for epidemic diseases, including smallpox, plague and typhus. The hospital was extended during the 1918 influenza epidemic. One of the first telephone lines ran from Rentzkie's Farm to the Old Town House so that friends of patients could keep in touch without danger of contracting the dread disease. My father was chaplain to the Brooklyn Chest Hospital during the 1960s and I sometimes accompanied him as a server. I was so scared of contracting tuberculosis that I hardly breathed.

                                                                                 Smallpox patients being carried into the hospital (The Graphic, 13 January 1883)

The farm was later subdivided, to form the farms Heatherton and Alma Apraties. Heatherton became a housing development, which today forms part of Brooklyn. Alma Apraties was bought by Ms Daisy Kettley, who established Kettley's Country Day School on the site. This remarkable school will form the subject of a future blog.

Then, in what is now Rugby, on the right-hand side of Koeberg Road, there was a small farm called Dwars in de Weg.

Then, in what is now Milnerton, there was the large dairy farm, Jan Biesjes Kraal, named after a former headman of the area. It overlooked the lagoon and is depicted on a chart of Table Bay dated 1786. Please refer to my earlier blog, entitled "Remembering Jan Biesjes Kraal" for more information.

On the "island" on the opposite side of the lagoon, in the area now occupied by the Woodbridge Island housing development, was the farm Neuw Colonie.

On the opposite side of Koeberg Road, in the area now occupied by Tygerhof, there was a Plantation Reserve and beyond it, in the area now occupied by Century City, lay the large farm Seven Pannetjies.

Further along Koeberg Road, in the area now occupied by Milnerton North, were two parcels of land comprising the farm Lange Rug.

In the area now occupied by Milnerton Ridge and The Paddocks lay a small farm named Duiker Vlei, and further inland was the large farm, Boosmans Dam.

Beyond Rietvlei, in what is now Table View, lay the large farm Riet Valleij or Riet Vley, a VOC outpost dating back to the 1660s. It was situated opposite the site where survivors of the wreck of the Nieuw Haarlem had set up their camp. The fresh water spring from which they drank is still there, but is now overgrown.

The freshwater spring at Rietvlei (courtesy of Michael Mangiagalli)

By the early 1800s, Riet Vley was a thriving dairy farm. When Table View was being developed, the site of the original farmhouse was uncovered, but building was allowed to go ahead regardless, with a plaque being erected to commemorate the discovery. To find it, one must turn into Blaauwberg Road from Marine Drive and then turn right into Pentz Drive. Next to the SANCCOB seabird sanctuary at No. 22, on the right-hand side, is a small parking area and the plaque is on the wall of the house on the left.

Plaque identifying the site of Riet Vley Farm (courtesy of Michael Mangiagalli)

Most of what is today Milnerton was owned by the Langerman family. Mr Frederick Johan Bernard Langerman, who was once the Mayor of Sea Point, bought Jan Biesjes Kraal and other land in the vicinity during the 1880s. Still surviving is a letter sent by his wife, Cornelia,  to the Surveyor General's office, offering to buy other property in the area. Attached to the letter was a map, showing the land that she and her husband already owned (coloured pink).

The letter written by Cornelia Langerman (courtesy of Melissa Langerman)

The map attached to the letter (courtesy of Melissa Langerman)

Next along the coast was Blaauwberg (now spelled “Blouberg”), an area farmed extensively since the first Dutch settlers. Farms of historical significance, still in existence, include: Blaauwberg, Brakfontein, Brakkuil, Dassenberg, Donkergat, Groote Post, Langerug, Melkboschplaas, Oliphantskop, Rondeberg, Vaatjie, Welbeloond and Witdam. 

By the early 19^th Century, Frederick Louis Stadler owned almost all of the farmland around Blaauwberg. Among his farms were Janssensgift, Higekraal, Meyboomsdam, Rooidam, Kleinberg and Compagniesdam. A small house which still overlooks the beach at Bloubergstrand is thought to be Stadler’s original home. It is uncertain when the house was built, but Thomas Bowler visited the place and made a drawing of it in 1853.

Ons Huisie is the smaller of these homes

In 1969, the smaller of the houses depicted above, Ons Huisie (as it is now known), was restored and the first restaurateur tenants took occupation. It was declared a national monument in 1973. It can be found on Stadler Road.

The present-day industrial area of Atlantis was developed on the farm Melkpost and the township on the farms Hartebeest Kraal and Witzand. Both were listed as Gouvernments Plaatsen in 1819. Occupations such as cola burning, wood gathering and lime-burning were common in that part of Blaauwberg and many families were bywoners (tenant farmers) on the farms on which they lived.

SIGNAL CANNONS AND OUTSPANS

In the 18^th Century, the Dutch East India Company authorities in Cape Town used a system of signal cannons to communicate with people on farms and outposts beyond easy reach of the town. One of these six-pounder cannons is still in its original position near the peak of the hill on Klein Paardeberg, 5 km east of Atlantis. Local belief has it that when a ship arrived in Table Bay, the captain would say what his requirements were in terms of wheat, meat and wine, and this message would be relayed by the network of cannons, starting at the Castle of Good Hope, which fired off a specific sequence of shots. A person stationed on the Paardeberg would in turn fire off appropriate shots west along the coast, north towards Piketberg, and east towards Paarl. The goods would then be gathered in these places and sent off to Cape Town, thus saving a lot of time and effort.

                                                

There was also a series of outspans all the way along the old road from Cape Town to Saldanha Bay. Where the going was more difficult, these would be closer together. The first outspan was in Salt River and the next in Potsdam, situated close to the present-day intersection of Potsdam, Koeberg and Blouberg Roads. This was used as an overnight resting place for farmers on their way to and from Cape Town. The area was still known as the Outspan in the 1920s and 1930s and is characterised by its tall bluegum trees. It is unclear, however, when exactly it ceased being used as an outspan.

The next outspan was at the farm Compagniesdam, situated at some distance behind the Blaauwbergstrand dunes. Now buried deep under the sand, this farm was granted to Francois Renier Duminy in 1794 on condition that he kept the dam clean so that the livestock of surrounding farmers could drink there.

Duminy was a fascinating character. After a career in the French East India Company, during which he became a member of the Company’s elite officer corps, he traded independently in the Indian Ocean and, after settling at the Cape, entered the service of the Dutch East India Company, on whose behalf he completed several slave trading voyages. In 1781, he was sent on a special mission to Europe to report on the VOC’s losses during the American War of Independence and, after the capture of his ship by the British, returned as captain of the Meermin, on which over the next decade he carried out important survey work along the southern African coastline. Duminy Point is named after him.