Forts and fortifications at the Cape Peninsula 1781-1829 : a survey of defence works with special references to the Hout Bay forts

Seemann, Ute A

Forts and fortifications at the Cape Peninsula 1781-1829 : a survey of defence works with special references to the Hout Bay forts

Master Thesis

1993

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Archaeology

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

Today there are the known remains of some fifteen or so forts and redoubts left which were built in the period under review. These are: Today there are the known remains of some fifteen or so forts and redoubts left which were built in the period under review. These are: Hout Bay - East and West Fort, Fort Klein Gibraltar, Conway Redoubt on Constantia Nek, Kyk-in-de-pot Battery, which became Fort Wynyard , Amsterdam Battery, Central Redoubt and Hollands Redoubt in Woodstock, King's, Queen's and Prince of Wales' Blockhouses, York Redoubt on Devil's Peak, Muizenberg - High and Low Batteries, 2 Magazines and several defence lines on the mountain side between the Main Road and Boyes Drive, Simon's Town - North and South Batteries. For various reasons, including a great interest in developing the sites as open-air museums, the Hout Bay forts were chosen for an archaeological investigation. They were found to yield data encompassing the whole period from 1781 to 1829, a constant occupation of about fifty years. The forts' buildings are reasonably well preserved. But as already experienced from the Amsterdam Battery excavation, the artefactual remains connected with the people stationed there were few. Some aspects of their daily lives and their interaction with the civilians in the area can be gleaned from documentary evidence and will be presented. This study is by no means comprehensive. The aim was to initiate the first phase of a study of military installations in the Cape Peninsula.

Description

Bibliography: pages 377-393.

Keywords

Archaeology

Reference:

Collections

Masters

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