In 1979 Elizabeth Lankenhall, Public Relations Officer for Gordon Verhoef and Krause, penned an article for Restorica, the journal of the Simon van der Stel Foundation (today the Heritage Association of South Africa). The piece looked at aspects of the history of the landmark Old Town House in Greenmarket Square Cape Town. Thank you to the University of Pretoria (Restorica copyright holders) for giving us permission to publish.
The Old Town House in Greenmarket Square, Cape Town, is of particular historical interest as it was never in fact used as a dwelling house. It was originally a Burgher Watch House, erected in 1755 on the site of an earlier Watch House, used by the Burgher Watch and the burgher councillors.
The Burgher Militia of Cape Town consisted in those days of four companies of foot-soldiers, each commanded by a captain, with two officers and four sergeants, and two companies of cavalrymen, each commanded by a captain of horse, with two officers and four troop sergeants.
The Burgher Watch House, then, was "the place where the burghers keep Watch at night", the captains and officers also taking turns to do guard-duty and "together they must see to it that order is maintained in all things". The guard duty included the building itself and the patrolling of the streets.
In the evenings and at night a sentinel was posted before the building, and a drummer was also on duty to beat the drum, for instance in case of fire. The building was also the official meeting place...
