Kensington Castle

In the fascinating article below, journalist Lucille Davie explores the history of four landmark Joburg castles. The piece was first published on the City of Johannesburg's website on 23 July 2003. Click here to view more of Davie's work. Unfortunately, in 2018, the Three Castles Building has deteriorated significantly and remains endangered. Local heritage organisations are concerned by the lack of information about the state of the Kensington Castle. They were able to ascertain that the cannon and a brass plaque were stolen a couple of years ago. The Kyalami Castle now belongs to the Church of Scientology.

For a town that started on a dusty, open patch of veld 117 years ago to be able to boast a number of castles seems incredible. But it’s true – Johannesburg has four “castles” around the city and suburbs, the oldest having been built in 1898 and opened by President Paul Kruger, when the town was barely 12 years old and still a rough, raucous place where men believed they would make their fortunes from gold.
 
But don’t expect to see grand, medieval castles that would have housed kings and princesses and knights, with a moat and impressive battlements. Johannesburg’s castles are very modest, two of them are homes with one or two turrets, one is a hotel and conference centre, the other a burnt-out shell of a building, one of its wings operating as a business.
 
The Three Castles Building, Marshall Street
 
The Three Castles Building, on the corner of Marshall and Goud...

The castle was built out of quarried stone taken from the hill and that area was also a great place to play in as we grew up. I presume it is the same today, unless they have built houses along the back of the koppie. The entrance to the castle was up a ramp and a small balcony leading to the front door. Just inside the door there is a stairway to the second floor on your left and straight ahead you walked into the kitchen. The height of the passage way is quite low, so I presume the builder was a short person. Up stairs led to the bedrooms and a balcony, looking down into the lower hall or dining room. There were old flags on the walls and a suit of armour.

We were never allowed to go up to the top turret look out, as I think the stairs were not in good shape.

When the castle was owned by Mr and Mrs Leader, I used to help him in the garage. Like my dad's garage there was always a lot of things being stored for repair at some stage. On one occasion Mr Leader had been to an auction and bought a big box of fire...

I lived at 130 Highland Road, right across from the Castle from 1942 until about 1965 when I left to travel the world. The Castle to me was a great playground as I grew up.  We spent a lot of time searching for the secret passage way into the Castle (every castle has a secret entrance) but after all the years of searching, we never found it. Below the Castle on the side of the hill facing Kensington there was an open air covered balcony.  We checked every stone and bush around it, hoping to be the first to find the secret tunnel but in the end gave up. I still think there is one but  the original builder has taken the secret to his grave.

Below are some photos of the Castle over the years from my personal collection. I'm not sure of the date of the first photo but it shows the big trees that used to be just inside the front wall. The second is taken from the same position in November 2013, when we were back visiting family. It shows how the lovely bougainvillea has now taken over.  The big doors to the left of the main gate were for the coach, horse drawn I presume.

Just inside...

[Originally published 11 July 2014] A modern day mystery appears to be developing in Highland Road, Kensington. No one seems to know what has happened to Marius Van Den Spek, the apparent owner of the iconic Kensington Castle. Over the last few years the property has fallen into disrepair with various sources stating that Marius has abandoned his inheritance (along with a very large council bill).

There is a fascinating yet worrying discussion thread on The Heritage Portal where various individuals have documented their attempts to find Marius.

After following a number of leads 'Declan' made the following statement in July 2013:

...the owner of the Kensington Castle can't be found, even by his friends which I think is quite sad as this once beautiful place seems to be going to ruins, I have hit a dead end and now don't know which way to go.

'Mandy' followed this a few days later with the following:

All roads so far have been dead ends. I am going for plan B now. I am writing a letter to the owner explaining who I am and that the history of the castle intrigues me. The fact that a man loved a woman so much that he built her a castle [view the history of the property on the discussion thread]. All I want is to be able to walk through this place so rich with love and history. I will be asking the caretaker (begging on my knees if I have to) to PLEASE give my letter to the owner and...