Boundary Walls

Over the holidays I was given a unique Christmas gift by my friend, Peter Digby who shares my enthusiasm for Johannesburg heritage items. It was a single old yellowed newspaper page, dated 9th November 1965, from The Star Newspaper. The page was saved in a cupboard of the Digby home because it carried an unusual story. The headline was: “Fine old stone in a new wall“. The article tells the story of a Mr Barney or Bernard Lobel (his name was actually Barnett Lobel) who rescued and saved the precision cut, dressed and shaped grey quartz and granite stone that was retrieved from the precinct and park when the Harrow Road (now Joe Slovo drive ) was widened and reconstructed in the late 1950s.   

Johannesburg walls and rocks

This yellowed fragile newspaper cutting set me thinking about Johannesburg walls and streets. If you look around the city, you will find examples of early stone and rock taken from the hilly ridges or from mining operations. Stones were quarried and it was all there for the taking. Since gold was embedded in a series of gold bearing reef and seams that ran for miles to the south of the city and descended at a 45% angle, extensive underground blasting was required and a great deal of quartz was excavated which could be used for building. Mine rocks were recycled into all sorts of structures from pioneering days. These rocks were all essential building material ahead of the making of bricks.

These...

The old saying that “Good walls make for good neighbours” has been taken to heart in Johannesburg, where high walls have sprung up where once there were only low diamond mesh fences and hedges to keep the children and pets from straying onto the road.

A boundary wall (which is freestanding) is built to serve a number of purposes that including security, privacy and spatial division. A fence will serve the same purposes, but tends to be less durable and long lived, owing to the materials generally used; namely thin timber planks or wire diamond mesh, whereas walls are associated with brick, stone or concrete (both pre-cast and insitu).

When a boundary wall is built it hides from view the house it protects, this is a great pity especially if the house has architectural or historical significance. It also restricts the view out for the occupants; such is the way many choose to live in the 21st century, enclaved behind those high walls.

When it comes to building a boundary wall there are several considerations, starting with the planning and whether or not you wish to do it yourself or employ a building contractor. No matter which option is chosen it is important to determine the height of the wall, where it needs to be built and what the material of construction will be. Part K of the National Building Regulations (SANS 10400) lays down the rules for wall construction. Should the wall be less than 1.8 metres high it is considered...