Vredehoek

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Vredehoek
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Vredehoek seen from Signal Hill
Vredehoek OSM map.svg
Street map of Vredehoek
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Vredehoek
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Vredehoek
Coordinates: 33°56′15″S18°25′30″E / 33.93750°S 18.42500°E / -33.93750; 18.42500
Country South Africa
Province Western Cape
Municipality City of Cape Town
Main Place Cape Town
Area
[1]
 • Total0.94 km2 (0.36 sq mi)
Population
 (2011) [1]
 • Total3,556
 • Density3,800/km2 (9,800/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[1]
 •  Black African 8.8%
 •  Coloured 5.6%
 •  Indian/Asian 2.0%
 •  White 80.4%
 • Other3.2%
First languages (2011)
[1]
 •  English 71.1%
 •  Afrikaans 18.3%
 • Other10.6%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
8001

Vredehoek (Afrikaans: "peace corner" [2] ) is a residential suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, located at the foot of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. It is sandwiched between the two neighbouring suburbs of Oranjezicht and Devil's Peak Estate, the latter of which is often considered a sub-suburb of Vredehoek as they both fall under the neighbourhood watch community called DPV - Devil's Peak & Vredehoek.

Contents

The suburb is easily recognised by the three cylindrical Disa Park towers, [3] many Art Deco-style buildings, and the natural beauty of public green spaces and parks. In 2011, the City of Cape Town census counted 5,415 people living in the area. [4]

It is served by route 111 and 101 of the MyCiTi bus service. [5]

History

The suburb was proclaimed after the first world war, where immigrants from many European countries settled after peace was declared, hence the name of "peace corner". Vredehoek Farm and Elba Farm were among the earliest settlements in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [6] The Jurgens family were the original owners of Vredehoek farm in this period and where they built Vredehoek homstead, c1800. They sold the farm to Edward H. F. Mellish in 1883, “a man of means, energy, ability and high standards” and he transformed the farm into Cape Town's first dairy farm. [6] Coupled with Mellish' death in 1905 and the mismanagement of the property by his son, all farming on the property ceased in 1916. [6] Over the following decades, portions of the original farm were subdivided into residential lots. [6] The homestead and part of the farm was sold to the University of Cape Town in 1924 and the homestead was used as a hostel by South African College Schools. [6] Cape Town municipality purchased the property from the university in 1930. [6] They demolished the homestead and created public recreational fields on the land. [6] Some remaining part of the original estate were transferred to the Poor Sisters of Nazareth in 1926 and 1929. Elba Farm (later Prospect Hill Farm) was developed as Devil's Peak Estate, a residential suburb for Europeans. [6]

Washerwomen at the Platteklip Wash House

On 1 April 1888, Cape Town's mayor commemorated the opening of wash houses near the Platteklip (Dutch: "flat stone") Stream. [7] An estimated 200 washerwomen were expected to stop washing laundry in the stream and instead use new indoor facilities. This change was made as downstream small-holdings owners wanted clean water for crops and new sanitation laws were outlawing washing laundry in public streams. [7]

The new wash houses required the washerwomen to pay a fee and this led to an initial boycott, after which the fee was dropped. [7] Once the women began using the facility's standing basins, perhaps because of the comfort over bending to wash, the fee was re-introduced. [7]

Before slavery was abolished at the South Africa in 1834, [8] the washerwomen would have been primarily enslaved women. They used corn husks to scour lathered cloth and used nearby bushes, trees and rocks for places to hang wet laundry for drying. [7]

The Platteklip Stream's fresh water comes off Table Mountain. It has historically been used by indigenous pastoralists to water their animals and for wild animals like buck to drink. [7] The Khoekhoen people called the stream Camissa "The Place of Sweet Water" and European settlers who used it for refreshment after being at sea called it Varsche Rivier. [9]

Buitenkant Street was previously known as Slaves' Walk, used by enslaved people to take laundry to the washerwomen. [7]

Today, the site of the wash houses forms part of a roughly 3 km Washerwomen Trail and has been turned into an overnight cottage through SANParks. [7]

Vredehoek Tin Mine

The public-access quarry above Vredehoek is a remnant of past tin mining in the area. [10] Officially called the "Murray and Stewart Quarry" and more commonly, the Vredehoek Quarry, [10] it is a popular place for people to visit with dogs or to see the fish that inhabit the quarry waters.[ citation needed ]

Mining started in 1911 [10] and in 1912 The Cape Argus reported that cassiterite was being fetched out of a 180-foot deep shaft via an adit. [11]

Mining was being carried out by an estimated 100 men employed by the Vredehoek Tin Company. [11] Mining was discontinued after it was realised that it would be cheaper to mine tin in the Durbanville area and operations stopped completely during World War 1. [10] It was reported that the mine had successfully produced roughly four tons (roughly 3600 kilograms) of ore concentrates. [10]

Apartheid

During apartheid, Vredehoek was designated as a “whites-only” area as part of the Group Areas Act. [12] Disa Park residential towers were built in the suburb in the late 1960s in response to a "white housing crisis" in racially segregated Cape Town. [3]

Architecture

The Disa Park towers or "Tampon Towers" Disa Park Vredehoek.jpg
The Disa Park towers or "Tampon Towers"

Disa Park Towers

Vredehoek is easily recognised by the iconic architectural triptych on the City Bowl skyline, a series of three of 55-metre, cylindrical high-rise brutalist towers collectively making up Disa Park, known colloquially as "The Tampon Towers". [3]

The National Party response to the white housing crisis resulted in several planning interventions, including the suspension of the city's zoning rules with regards to building height for developers willing to build housing in white Group Areas. Other developments include the nearby Gardens Centre, Sea Point's Twin Towers and Blouberg Heights. [3]

The circular shape was intended to minimise the impact of the unrelenting Southeaster wind that blows from October to March each year, and to give affordable housing to over a thousand residents with panoramic views of the mountain, city and sea. [3]

In 2004, Wallpaper listed Disa Park as one of the best buildings in Cape Town, [3] however, the local response to the towers was almost instantly negative when they were completed in late 1969. The concrete facade, the political and social circumstance, and rumours of corruption were all criticised but the imposing height was considered particularly controversial. [3] Though the base of the towers begins below the Table Mountain National Park, the 18 storeys stretch well beyond that, reaching 209 metres above sea level. [3]

The towers are colloquially named "The Tampon Towers" amongst other names, [3] however the developers' official names for the individual towers are Blinkwater, Platteklip and Silverstroom. [3] The unrealised vision for the tower project would have seen up to 17 identical towers along the city skyline. [3]

Kramats above Deer Park

At least two Kramats can be found just above Deer Park in Vredehoek, including the Sayed Abdul Haq kramat. [13] Local kramats or "mazaars" are Islamic shrines marking the graves of holy men or notable religious leaders who died at the Cape, often after being banished by the Dutch from countries like India, Ceylon and Java. [14] The local Deer Park forest and stream in Vredehoek provided sanctuary to runaway enslaved or imprisoned people. [15] There are more than 20 recognised kramats in the Peninsula area, with 10 declared official heritage sites in 2021. [16]

The old Vredehoek Shul built in the Art Deco style. Old Vredehoek Synagogue.jpg
The old Vredehoek Shul built in the Art Deco style.

Art Deco buildings

Several apartment buildings in the Vredehoek area share a distinctive Art Deco style. [17] The large concentration of the similar buildings give the area a unique character that a 2017 campaign by The Greater Vredehoek Heritage Action Group attempted to protect from threats of gentrification. [17] Daventry Court, Sherwood Court and Victory Court are three examples of the style, which seldom goes over three storeys. [17]

Local flora, fauna and environment

An example of Vredehoek's local flora, a Pincushion Tree with yellow colouring. Leucospermum conocarpodendron subsp. viridum 1DS-II 1-C4546.jpg
An example of Vredehoek's local flora, a Pincushion Tree with yellow colouring.

Because of its proximity to Table Mountain National Park, Vredehoek has an abundance of indigenous plants and fynbos [18] including:

Some of the mature alien invasive trees that pose a threat to Vredehoek's indigenous plants are Port Jackson, Rooikrans, Hakea, Pine and Blue Gum. [19]

In April 2021, a large fire on Table Mountain, which had started at UCT and had already caused damage to the UCT Library, Mosert's Mill and Rhodes Memorial, moved over Devil's Peak towards Vredehoek, causing residents to evacuate as a precautionary measure. [20] Part of the reason for the spread were the winds reaching 45 kilometres per hour (28 mph). [20] Cape Town high fire alert season traditionally ends at the end of April. [20] While fire on Table Mountain can be beneficial to local fynbos plants, the threat to human settlement is also considered when deciding whether to extinguish. [18]

During Winter 2023, high rainfall caused damage to the surrounding Table Mountain area and caused a sink hole and fallen tree in Deer Park. [21]

Residents

In 2011, the City of Cape Town census counted 5,415 people living in the area. [4]

Vredehoek is popular among dual income households yet to have children, [2] and the suburb has been going through an urban revival as older blocks of flats are being replaced with apartments. [2]

Jewish community

Wedding Chuppah at Vredehoek Shul, 1979 Chuppah Vredehoek Shul Cape Town 1979.jpg
Wedding Chuppah at Vredehoek Shul, 1979

Vredehoek, Gardens and Sea Point have traditionally attracted Jewish communities. [22] During the first half of the twentieth century, many Jewish immigrants from Europe, especially Lithuania settled in Cape Town. A number of Jewish immigrants living in the District Six area began to buy and build homes in Vredehoek. [6] Many of the flats in Vredehoek were first owned by Jewish immigrants and have names such as Mont Sholem, Tel Hai Court and Herzlia. [6] The Jewish community also established three synagogues in the suburb. The Vredehoek Shul opened in 1939 and was housed in an Art Deco building designed by John Joseph Ingber. [23] [24] The synagogue closed and was deconsecrated in 1993, eventually becoming an antiques store. The former synagogue is situated on Rabbi Mirvish Avenue, named after Moses Chaim Mirvish, the first Rabbi with Semikhah in the Cape Colony. [25] The Schoonder Street Shul (also known as the “round shul” designed by architect Max Policansky was opened in 1952 and was demolished in 2001. [26] [6] The Beit Midrash Morasha synagogue (then known as Beth Hamedrash), relocated to 22 Virginia Ave in 1945 from its previous home in District Six. [27] The congregation left Vredehoek in 1954 to move to its present location in Sea Point. [27]

Although many of Vredehoek's Jewish families have resettled in Sea Point, several Jewish institutions remain in the suburb. [28] They include Highlands House, Cape Jewish Aged Home (1920-present) and a Jewish pre-primary, primary and High School under United Herzlia Schools. [28] [29] Meyer Hirsch Goldschmidt assisted in the founding of Herzlia School (originally United Hebrew Schools in Hope Street, Gardens) before moving to its present location in Vredehoek to accommodate a larger student intake. Therefore, M.H. Goldschmidt Avenue which leads up to the Herzlia Schools was named in his memory. [6] Rabbi Barry Marcus MBE , a Rabbi of the Central Synagogue, Great Portland Street in London, was raised in Vredehoek, attended Herzlia School and taught Hebrew there. [30]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sub Place Vredehoek". Census 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Vredehoek".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Building an Icon: The Disa Park Towers in Cape Town". Visi. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  4. 1 2 "City of Cape Town – 2011 Census Suburb Vredehoek" (PDF). Strategic Development Information and GIS Department (SDI&GIS). July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Cape Town Routes & Stops | Travel with MyCiTi | MyCiTi IRT". www.myciti.org.za. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Declaring urban conservation areas: the Art Deco townscape of Vredehoek, Cape Town University of Cape Town. 2017
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Table Mountain's Wash-houses, and doing Laundry at Platteklip Stream". capetrekking.co.za. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "Slavery is abolished at the Cape | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Table Mountain's Wash-houses, and doing Laundry at Platteklip Stream". capetrekking.co.za. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Hart, Andre. "Vredehoek Quarry Tunnel - Table Mountain's Secrets". Table Mountain Live Stream. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Old Cape Town Mines". ctminsoc.org.za. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  12. ↑ Has 'class' Apartheid taken root? New African . 1 August 2019
  13. ↑ newsroom (11 November 2019). "Sayed Abdul Haq kramat in Vredehoek vandalised (PHOTOS)". Voice of the Cape. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  14. ↑ "Circle of Kramat's, Cape Town | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  15. ↑ "Cape Mazaar Society". www.capemazaarsociety.com. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  16. ↑ Williams, Rafieka (3 December 2021). "Watershed moment for Muslim community as 10 kramats in Cape Town get declared heritage sites". IOL.
  17. 1 2 3 "Vredehoek Art Deco Buildings Cape Town | The Heritage Portal". www.theheritageportal.co.za. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  18. 1 2 "Table Mountain National Park Flora". SANParks. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "Table Mountain National Park Alien Clearing". SANParks. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  20. 1 2 3 "Evacuations as firefighters battle wildfire in Cape Town". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  21. ↑ "Impact of floods caused by heavy rains at Table Mountain National Park". SANParks. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  22. ↑ The Future of Jewish South Africa Tablet Mag. 22 March 2023
  23. ↑ Synagogue Artefacts. Accessed on 12 September 2023
  24. ↑ Vredehoek Synagogue Cape Town - Final Service, 8 August 1993 YouTube. 8 August 1993. Accessed on 12 September 2023
  25. ↑ Where the streets bear our names South African Jewish Report. 27 February 2020
  26. ↑ Synagogue Artefacts. Accessed on 12 September 2023
  27. 1 2 Arthur’s Road Shul – Digging Up The History JewishGen KehilaLinks. Retrieved on 19 January 2024
  28. 1 2 Denk, Larissa (13 February 2023). "Ethnography of Jewish Cape Town and Jewish Giving Ideals". Giving and Belonging in the Jewish Diaspora of Cape Town. J.B. Metzler. ISBN   9783662668870 . Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  29. ↑ HIGHLANDS HOUSE (THE CAPE JEWISH AGED HOME) IN RE: SUBMISSIONS TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON THE OLDER PERSONS BILL [B68B-2003] Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Accessed on 21 September 2023
  30. ↑ Marcus, Barry (15 September 2019). "Introduction". My Story (Rabbi Barry Marcus). Amberley Publishing. ISBN   9781398101555 . Retrieved 25 November 2022.
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