The ruins of Fort Wonderboom lie on top
of Wonderboom Hill. A 45 minute hike up
the Wonderboom Hill, along sandstone
paved path, from the Wonderboom tree.
The view over the City of Pretoria is wonderful from this
vantagepoint.
Far in the distance one can see the Voortrekker Monument, and the Telkom tower. The
tallest building in Pretoria, the Reserve Bank, can also been seen
in the distance.
Romantic in the 19th-century fort tradition, no shot was actually
fired in anger from this fortification, built in readiness for the
troubles which culminated in the Anglo-Boer War, In 1896 it was decided by the Executive Council of
the Transvaal Republic that forts should be built at strategic
positions in order that Pretoria might readily be defended. The
building of the three major forts was entrusted to HC Wemer with German backing; while Fort Daspoortrand was built on a French system under the
supervision of S Lean.
Built in the strictest secrecy, using both Italian and black
labour, the forts cost in the region of
£50 000 each. Beautifully constructed of stone, with meticulously
executed brickwork, they are entered between great posts of stone
with typical Victorian capitals, and guarded by stout armour-plated doors. Within, around the enclosure,
battlements vie with stock-pattern late 19th-century woodwork. Tall
chimneys and airvents spring from the
turf-covered earthworks. Overall, time has given the old structures
a patina. The larger forts were fitted with bomb-resistant
casemates, ammunition stores and machine shops, as well as other
refinements such as telegraph offices - though some of this
equipment was confiscated in Cape Town after the outbreak of
hostilities.
The forts were armed with Long Toms, and revolving artillery pieces
could be mounted on the ramparts in times of need. Manned by the
State Artillery, the forts were prepared for action; however, in
the end, their only use was as accommodation for Lord Roberts'
troops when he occupied Pretoria in 1900.
Fort Klapperkop was restored by the S
A Defence
Force in 1963 as a military museum and a decade or so later Fort
Schanskop was also restored for museum
purposes. But Forts Wonderboom and
Daspoortrand remain in a state of
romantic decay, their usage as remote as that of a medieval
castle.
(Picton-Seymour, 1989: 169)