Archistori

Aka: V.O.C. Kruithuis / Powder Magazine Built: 1777 Locality:  Blom Rd, Die Braak, Stellenbosch. View from east. Image source: Archistori The Kruithuis is one of the most unique buildings of Die Braak and Stellenbosch, and it stands on a small, triangular piece of land located as an extension of Mark Road between the Rhenish Complex and Het Burgerhuis. Very soon after the establishment of Stellenbosch, a form of civic guard or infantry was formed using local citizens. Every year they had to travel down to Cape Town to be trained. As early as 1686, the request arose to hold the training sessions on their own grounds, namely on Die Braak, and to establish an accompanying arsenal there. By the late 18th century, the Stellenbosch burgher militia ( bijeenwoners ) needed a secure, centralized location to store ammunition, gunpowder, and weapons for defense against potential conflicts. It was not until the second half of the eighteenth century that permission was obtained. The Governor o...

Aka: Het Burgerhuis Built: 1797 Locality: Cnr Alexander St and Blom Rd, Stellenbosch. East facade. Image source: Archistori Het Burgerhuis  is one of the oldest houses in Stellenbosch. Fick came into possession of the land in 1796 and built Het Burgerhuis there as early as the following year. Fick passed away in 1808, as a result of which Van der Riet, the landdrost (magistrate) of Stellenbosch, became the new owner. Under Van der Riet, a major expansion took place to the south, which was also called the Van der Riet House. In 1839, the property was transferred to the Rhenish missionary Lückhoff. Consequently, the building served for a time as a Rhenish parsonage. When the Rhenish parsonage moved away, the building was divided around 1879 and occupied by multiple families. "Round the Braak are old buildings that have escaped all the fires... This gabled Burgerhuis bears the date 1797, and it was occupied by coloured families until it was declared an historic monument fairly rec...

Denomination: Dutch Reformed (NG) Built:  1743-1748 Status: Extant Current Use:  Oude Kerk Volksmuseum View from north-east (2013). Source: Coral Grobler on Wikimedia Commons. View from north. Unidentified photographer. North gable (2009). Source: Norman Collins on Wikimedia Commons. From Red Sands to "Land van Waveren" The region situated north of the Drakenstein Mountains, bounded by the Ubiqua Mountains to the west and the Witzenberg to the east, was originally known as  Roodezand  (Dutch for "red sand") - where the roads from the Olifants valley, the Bokkeveld, the Roggeveld, and the Breede valley met.² In 1699, Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, who was called "the father of the stock farmer", was looking for a hinterland where cattle posts could be established. Already the Stellenbosch and Drakenstein people were complaining that their farms were too small, and there were other landless men clamouring for grants. Van der Stel crossed into the val...

Built: 1751-1771 Status: Demolished Unidentified photographer.¹ Timeline In August 1752, after the dedication and commissioning of the completed church building, the Church Council, under the strong leadership of Rev. Voltelen, decided to make an active start on building the parsonage. The marriage of Rev. Voltelen to a young Cape lady and the arrival of the first minister's wife to settle in the new congregation on the Zwartland church grounds probably also hastened the decision to build a proper parsonage. However, the Voltelen couple did not have the privilege of being the first occupants of the elegant and comfortable new parsonage. The parsonage on the church grounds of the Zwartland congregation, the design and construction of which had already received urgent attention from the minister and his church council during the time of Rev. Voltelen, was ultimately only completed in December 1771. In 1788, the elegant and comfortable minister's residence was further embellished...

Built:  c.1753 : c.1780s (renovations) : 1792 (mill) What began as an 11-acre loan farm in the late 1600s eventually evolved into the prestigious estate it is today. Once a portion of the original Groot Constantia, the property was transformed over centuries from a simple farm into a sophisticated botanical landmark. The name “Alphen” (along with the larger Constantia estate) is conjectured to derive from VOC ships - the Alphen and Constantia - that once anchored in Table Bay. The Cloete family held ownership for 150 years, adding various structures like the mill and slave quarters that still stand as part of the modern hotel and commercial complex. Aerial photo. (Source: Alphen Hotel) The estate was steered by a lineage of Hendrik Cloetes, each leaving a unique mark - from a wine pioneer to a man who adopted a British lifestyle and changed his name to Henry (Hendrik Cloete). His wife, the Afrikaner Deliana Van Warmelo , famously served as a Boer spy. While Henry hosted high-rankin...