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We visit heidelberg, witsand & malgas

The Fourie House in Heidelberg is one of the The Barry Church at Witsand - built in 1849
oldest in the country

After crossing the Pont at Malagas we found the old Freek found it necessary to instruct our driver!
trading store Photo by Martie Visagie

The Barry home at Westfield. The present owner,

Guy Barry, made us all welcome and showed us
around his home.
We filled the bus. It was a novel experience, and we
felt at times we’d go faster if we could just get out
and walk!
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HEIDELBERG AND THE GRAND BUS OUTING

First Outing of 2008 to Heidelberg, Witsand bedrooms (are you
and Malgas. Information was given by: Susan surprised?), a living
Uys, Thys and Basie Uys, Guy Moodie, Lorraine room and a kitchen and
Barry and Hendrika van As. We thank Pieter storeroom has stood
van Reenen and his team for organising the event. the test of time and has
resisted dry rot because
Thanks to a brilliant idea by Basie Uys we, woods like poplar,
all 48 of us, were off to Heidelberg to visit a `find' assegai, stinkwood and
the Fourie House. It is the grandmother of olivewood were used
Heidelberg as the town developed around it. This and were treated with
house, on Erf 199 on the corner of Fourie and Rall aloe juice, bitter karoo,
Streets has been around for a while, astonishingly rue and buchu and later
for 280 years, and was now being restored and with candlewax and
investigated. paraffin which were
The house, on effective preservatives.
an early loan farm, Heidelberg is to be Lorraine Barry
was built for Louis congratulated on
Fourie the younger, getting funds from the
th
6 child of a French Rupert Trust and on a grand community effort.
Huguenot of 1688. Then we all piled into an ancient bus, which was
Louis married about our age, and the suspension we believe was
Susanna Le Riche in installed during the Korean War. The interior was
May 1728, and for the historical in the extreme and showed evidence of
next 24 years she had desperate journeys during the Jurassic age. The driver
a baby every second
year. Only two might
not have survived
infancy as they are
Tea-time
not recorded as
having married.
Susan Uys told us that the house known as
`Doornboom Plaatzwoning' of 1728/29 is 17
years older than the Drostdy in Swellendam. The
builder was a slave, the roof of unique
construction, showing Malay influence; not
surprising as 50% of the colonists were slave
owners by 1731.
The house which consists of three

Martie, Hazel, Minee and Juletha on the pont

over the Breede River

was ditto. He was a brake man and only used gears on

The bus that was the reason for much
talk and laughter ....
Sundays. Our best was when Freek Muller of
Herbertsdale cheered him on as we climbed another slow
hill while the tortoises raced past and Basie and Thys told
us about the neighbours and mense wat te na getroud was.
Then we visited Westfield, built in 1832, and met
Guy Moodie who apparently lives in something more
comfy in Witsand. The government presented the farm
to Capt Benjamin Moodie of Grootvadersbos, the first
harbour master of Port Beaufort, as a reward for
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crippling
drought. He
found 500 to
600 wagons
waiting for
the cutter. In
1820 Capt
Benjamin
Moodie
established
the Por t
Beaufort
Trading
C o m p a n y,
The road ahead from inside the bus
and built a Guy Moodie, present-day owner
wa r e h o u s e of Westfield gave us an interesting
bringing 200 Scots, many of them artisans, to the there which talk on the farm’s history
Cape. resulted in
Witsand is on the mouth of the Breede coastal trade
River and the deep turquoise and blues of sea and b e i n g
river were a delight to the eyes. It is known as the established.
Whale Nursery of South Africa; pregnant whales Then it was off to the Barry church, now used
start arriving in June, each with her own male for Barry high days, restored in the early 1970s thanks to
midwife, and leave in November. Calves are about the modern day Barry energy. Our visit ended with the
6 meters long at birth and drink up to 200 litres of singing of the hymn, Ek sien in my gees die glorie, en die almag
milk after birth. A helicopter survey recorded 72 van die Heer.
southern right whales and 69 calves in the bay in Then the bus took us all the way to the pont at
2006. Malgas, a settlement on the east bank of the Breede River
At the clubhouse we met Lorraine Barry, about 30 km south-east of Swellendam. Place Names of
one the first Botha babes at the Army College in South Africa says the name is probably an adaptation of
1971 and listened to Dr Jan Langenhoven's the Portuguese Mangas de velludo, `velvet sleeves', referring
interesting history of the area in which Joseph to the Cape gannet with its black-tipped wings. Our bus
Barry and his nephews Thomas and John had such driver couldn't or wouldn't pont, so everybody went
an influence. ponting and met Mrs Hendrika van As owner of a real
The history of Port Beaufort and Witsand old fashioned shop who told of flood levels and such
goes back to 1488 when the Portuguese recognised like.
the Breede River mouth as the finest natural Then back over hill and dale to Heidelberg,
anchorage on the whole southern seabord of which looked really modern and up to date when we all
Africa. In 1576 got back. It was a lovely day.
Manuel de
M e s q u i t a
Perestrello called
the bay St
Sebastian Bay on
the west bank of
Cape Infanta.
In 1819 Joseph
Barry bought the
cutter Duke of
Glouster and
arrived at Port
Beaufort with
food for a
s t a r v i n g
Basie Uys - a population Dr Jan Langenhoven - a local historian
delightful raconteur affected by a
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The sugar bridge over the buffelsjagrivier

second instalment

disastrous great fire of London in 1666].

The Sugar Bridge
The Outeniquander of 2007 certainly got a sweet
thing going when we mentioned that we had visited
the third oldest bridge in South Africa, the `Sugar
Bridge' near Buffeljachts, in 2006.
We saw an ancient curiosity, marooned in
the river, standing all legs and nothing to ride on as we
drove through the water over the drift nearby. We
have since learnt, thanks to many friends, that first
there was a pont, ordered by Governor Lord Charles
Somerset in 1825 who got stuck there on his way to
the Eastern Cape.
The pont packed up in 1842 and work on a
decent all weather bridge started in 1844. The stone
was quarried locally and eventually the Colonial
Works Department got hold of a Cornish
stonemason, John Higgo, in 1850. The construction
of the bridge was first overseen by William Atmore
and later by Evans.
The eight piers were two feet wide with 2
abutments. The foundations for some of the piers
were dug more than 10 feet deep before solid rock
was reached. Then a load of teak was bought for
£400 at the auction of the wreck of the Robert that
went down at the mouth of the Lourens River at
Somerset Strand. The timber was shipped to Port
Beaufort in the Kadie and transported to the site by
ox-wagon from Port Beaufort to Buffeljacts at a cost
of £800. The piers took 3 years to build (1847-1850)
and cost £8,426; during the frontier war no building
took place.
Now to get to the sugar business.
The bridge was built before cement and
concrete, and locally available gypsum was used to
cement the stone blocks together. [Gypsom was also
known as Plaster of Paris because the King of France
ordered the wooden houses in Paris to be covered
with gypsum as a precaution against fire after the
Cane sugar was added to the gypsum as an
accelerant to aid the process of setting. The article on line
on `Free Patents on line' that deals with this topic warns that
it not just a procedure of mixing gypsum with sugar. I
wonder if Atmore knew that?
The bridge was opened to traffic 10 June 1852 and
by 1937 was showing signs of wear, although it was still in
use and locals suggested it deserved conservation status.
The authorities turned it down as it wasn't attractive
enough.
In 1943 the main road was re-aligned and the
bridge was nearly demolished.
In 1989 the sugar bridge was declared a national
monument and is worth a visit.
References: with thanks to Tony Murray, SAICE History
and Heritage Panel; Braham van Zyl Agterpadreisnotas;
Eckhart Muller, Journal of Engineering, 2008; Brief
History of Plaster and Gypsum; Hugo Leggatt
We visited Swellendam during 2006.
One of our guides, Braham van Zyl
took us to see the “Sugar Bridge”
over the Buffeljachtsrivier
“The budget should be balanced, the treasury should
be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the
arrogance of offialdom should be tempered and
controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should
be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People
must again learn to work, instead of living on
public assistance.”
Cicero, 55 BC
With thanks to Thys and Roea Uys
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Chronology of building elements

Brick, red-faced with a stone dressing: 1880 to
1890
Bricks, imported in ballast from England: 1890
Bricks, ordinary raw, in common use until 1890
Buildings with a ridged roof: 1870-1880
Ceiling lathe and plaster: 1870
Ceiling metal press: 1900
Ceiling tongue and groove: 1890
Cement in general use, ratio 1:8: 1895
Chimneys become complex by 1890
Concrete first used at St Paul Rondebosch: 1850
Concrete foundations commonly used from 1895
Corrugated iron first became popular from 1850;
in the 1860s, gauge 24-26 was used.
Corrugated iron invented 1820s
Door 4 panels: 1870
Doors 6 panels: 1840 to 1850
Doors internal glazed: 1870
Doors ready made, on sale after 1860
Fanlights half circle panels up to 1840
Fanlights squared off: 1850
Gable multi with turrets: 1890s
Gable off-centre: 1870
Gables curvy linear: 1890
Gables front (Victorian): 1870 to 1890
Galvanized iron first used in Cape Town: 1847
Galvanized iron invented: 1840
Galvanized iron roof first used in Graaff-Reinet:
1851-1852
Linoleum: 1890
Paint, until 1850 all old houses were
whitewashed. Sometimes yellow ochre
was added.
Paintwork: Victorian houses were painted in
pastel with the windows white.
Paintwork: woodwork of old houses was dark
By Prof Franco Frescura, Oudtshoorn, 1989
green (4 Windsor green and 1 black). Later
golden brown was also used.
Roof pitch 25º: 1850
Roof pitch 27º & 28º: 1860
Roof pitch 30º: 1890
Roof, steep pitch 45º: 1840-1850
Roof ridged, no hips: 1870-1880
Roof, asymmetrical form (known in USA as a salt box):
1870 onwards
Roof, salt box in the roof: 1890
Roof, simple pyramidal form: 1900
Slate takes over from wood shingle: 1850s
Stonework foundations common until 1890
Stonework seldom seen until the 1850s
Thatch roofs replaced from 1850
Thatching replaced in most villages by 1870s
Ventilators in roofs in 1880
Verandahs curved: 1870s
Verandahs straight in the front of the house from
1870s onward
Window surrounds: 1860-1870s
Windows 12 x 12: 1870s
Windows 2 x 2: 1870
Windows bay windows on the side of the house: 1870
Windows, casement: 1901
Windows, casement: 1905
Windows combination 6 panes above and 1 lower:
1890
Windows flush with the outside wall early Dutch.
Windows full pane: 1890s
Windows sash 6 x 6: 1860
Windows set back from the outside wall are Georgian
Windows, bay windows, as part of the roof: 1890
Zinc sheets on roofs replaced thatch gradually from
1850

Prof Franco Frescura, of the University of Port Elizabeth held an insightful conservation
workshop in Oudtshoorn in 1989. Here are a few of his comments:
Q. What is conservation and what is restoration?
A. Conservation is the strategy combined with economics which can enable us to consider restoration.
Restoration is the repair of a building to its original state.
Q. To what point do we restore a building?
A. The older the building, the more eras have been in its existence, so do we restore to the Victorian Era or
to the 1930’s? The restoration of a Tulbagh street after the earthquake was controversial. Did Tulbagh
really look like that in 1815?
Q. How do we establish the era?
A. The problem is that culture is not stable. Culture as we know it wasn’t here 500 years ago and won’t be
here 500 years in the future.
Q. What are the extremes of restoration?
A. Letting a building fall down and keeping a building restored - as in a vacuum jar.