A Little Bit About Die Ou Tronk / The Old Jail:
The Old Jail at Riversdale is undoubtedly one of the oldest buildings in town. The original construction was built in 1838 by the Barry family of Swellendam and used as a trading store. During 1860 the government bought the premises and turned it into a jail. In those days the police station, the court room and the jail were all on one site. The jail warden also lived here. The only execution ever in Riversdale took place in this building. Gilbert Hay of Heidelberg murdered his mother with a hammer in order to obtain drinking money. He received the death sentence for his horrible deed. As Swellendam was the chief magisterial district at the time, the gallows had to be transported to Riversdale by ox wagon and returned to Swellendam after the execution. On 31 March 1979 the jail was closed and the building and premises was sold by tender. In 1984 the property was registered to Mattheus Koen. The characteristic building has functioned as a Coffee Shop and Arts & Craft shop since 2009.
Whilst the operating hours of Die Ou Tronk / The Old Jail is 08h00 to 16h30 Mondays - Fridays, 09h00 to 13h00 on Saturdays and closed on Sundays, the cache is accessible 24/7.
Congrats Terunkie for a well deserved FTF. Well Done!