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It was wonderful to stumble across this article on one of the first surveys carried out by a non-professional group in South Africa. The piece was published in the 1980 edition of Restorica, the journal of the Simon van der Stel Foundation (today the Heritage Association of South Africa). Thank you to the University of Pretoria (copyright holders) for giving us permission to publish.

The Simon van der Stel Foundation and the Monuments' Council have realised that no organised effort at preservation is possible without a full and descriptive list of old buildings. Mr John Rennie, a Cape Town architect, was commissioned to organise a survey of the buildings of central Cape Town. The results were published in The Buildings of Central Cape Town (1978). The success of the survey led to other areas being considered for a similar investigation.

Book Cover

Paarl is an excellent choice as there is a great variety of style and even though many of the buildings have undergone great changes since 1900, a wealth of beauty and interest lies undiscovered behind the altered facades.

Under the able and enthusiastic leadership of Len Raymond, the Survey Committee was established in February 1980. Sanlam very generously donated R2 500 towards the Survey's expenses. Most of the...

The short article below, written by an unknown author, tells the story of the restoration of the Old Ireland Building (Edgars) on Church Street, Pietermaritzburg. The piece appeared in the 1979 edition of Restorica, the journal of the Simon van der Stel Foundation (today the Heritage Association of South Africa). Thank you to the University of Pretoria (copyright holders) for giving us permission to publish.

Walking down Church Street in Pietermaritzburg, one building immediately catches the eye and irresistibly draws one nearer. Dominating the street scene, it forms a lovely whole with the many other old buildings of historical value and the quaint and interesting arcades that form the city centre. 

The building houses a well-known departmental store, but what attracts customers - especially visitors to the city isn't tempting sales offers or special low prices, but the unusual exterior. Delicate white-painted lattice-work fit to decorate any wedding cake, a wide sidewalk and larger-than-life pictures of ladies and gentlemen from grandpa's day beckoning one from between hundred-year-old carved wooden door and window frames to enter, try and buy. 

Stepping closer, one notices the brass plate mounted near the entrance to the store, presented by the Pietermaritzburg Society in recognition of the management's far-sighted and restorative contribution to the city. The charming frontage belonged to the original old Ireland's departmental store, a framed picture of which has the place of honour in the manager's office and has also been presented by the Society for this "fine example of what imaginative business can...

In the short article below, an unknown author explores a few blue plaques in Cape Town including one commemorating Herbert Baker's last building in South Africa. The piece appeared in the 1978 edition of Restorica, the journal of the Simon van der Stel Foundation. today the Heritage Association of South Africa (HASA). Thank you to the University of Pretoria (copyright holders) for giving us permission to publish.

One wonders how many people in their daily rush up and down Adderley Street this past week or so, have noticed that another of the Simon van der Stel Foundation's blue larger-than-dinner plate plaques has gone up on the site of Barclay's Bank.

Blue Plaque (The Heritage Portal)

This, of course, records Sir Herbert Baker's last building in South Africa - his first was a rather modest extension to Tokai reformatory. And the two opposite poles indicate how the architect's reputation soared while in South Africa. From initially improving conditions for naughty boys (or else making room for more) to monumental works like Rhodes Memorial, Groote Schuur, Union Buildings and finally the magnificent bank building.

At a special lunch hosted by Mr Alex McGregor, chairman of the bank, we toasted both the bank and the Van der Stel Foundation, whose chairman, Mr Doug Andrews...

This gem of a piece was published in the South African Railway Magazine (October 1906 issue). The unknown author describes what life was like for railway men posted to small railway stations in the Karoo. Thank you to the Heritage Office at Transnet for giving us access to their archives.

The conditions of railway life in South Africa lend themselves readily to the development of the railway bookworm. Take the case of the man stationed out in the desert places of the Karoo; where there is little or no local traffic and nothing to break the long monotony, except the occasional goods train which rarely stops and the passenger with its one minute, just enough for the unfortunate hermit to hear the sarcastic queries of the passengers as to why they are stopping at this "infernal place."

He has very little work between trains (certainly a beneficient department try  to remedy this by giving him the task work of entering up the "list of rolling stock in traffic"!) so he must find some occupation or recreation to spin out the long dreary hours. If he has any taste for liquor, then God help him. The records can show how many poor fellows have gone to ruin owing to their inability to restrain the craving for drink.

If he is fond of shooting he gets on the soft side of the local farmers and wanders far afield in search of the retiring hare or partridge and koorhaan; perhaps even the rare buck will...

On the occassion of the 75th Anniversary of the Drill Hall in 1979 the following 'history' of the building was compiled.

The corner-stone of the Drill Hall was unveiled on Saturday 11 June 1904 at 14h00 by Lieutenant-General Sir H.J.T. Hildyard, Commander of the British forces in South Africa. The construction of this building, which was erected on the site of the old non-white prison in Johannesburg was completed in October of the same year. There had been a high wall around the outside of the prison, and the outside wall of the Drill Hall still rests upon those foundations today.

Initially, the cells within were fitted out as offices for various units. The actual Drill Hall in the complex which bears its name was the largest hall in South Africa in 1904 and its external dimensions were 45m by 24m. The Drill Hall was built to serve as headquarters of the Transvaal Volunteer Corps. During the closing months of the Anglo-Boer War a committee was formed on which influential residents of the Witwatersrand served. Their objective was to establish a volunteer corps in the Transvaal. When peace had been concluded, Kitchener also advocated that volunteers form the nucleus of a volunteer corps in the Transvaal. He recommended that the Imperial Light Horse, Johannesburg Mounted Riflemen, South African Light Horse, Kitchener's Fighting Scouts and the Scottish Horse each keep approximately five hundred men to be maintained by the government. Other units incorporated into the Transvaal Volunteer Corps were the Central...