The Arniston Monument Multi-Cache

The Arniston Monument

The cache, a small black-taped tube, is hidden at this stunning, remote and lonely spot – the location of this monument erected in memory of the 372 souls lost in the sinking of the Arniston on the night of 30 May 1815. See here for detailed info on the life and loss of this ship.

See also GC2JMBG SS Arniston for details of this tragic event – the result of a fatal combination of bad weather, meanness and a critical navigational error. The wreckage lies about 900m offshore under 6m of water. An underwater excavation in 1982 recovered a number of artefacts, which are on display at the Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum – location of GC2JMBV SS Shipwreck Museum .

To Reach the Cache Location: from the hotel/harbour area, walk or drive north through Kassiesbaai, the picturesque fishing village, heading for the parking area @ S 34 39.732 E 20 13.928.

From here, head down onto the beach and basically follow the coast to the cache location. Depending on the state of the tide you may be able to complete most of your approach along the sandy beaches and around/over rocky outcrops at the end of these.

Otherwise, like we did, walk across the first beach and then when nearing the rocky headland, @ approx. S 34 39.474 E 20 14.036 climb up to either a) join a jeep track crossing the sandy/rocky plateau above the beach or b) before reaching this, find your own way across the plateau – it is easy going with no obstacles en route.

Continue towards Dassiekrans (a headland and large stone-built house a little inland to the north) and @ S 34 39.143 E 20 14.268 before reaching the house, take the small trail back down to the long sandy beach and walk along this till near the monument, climbing back up the sandy slope to get to the cache location. (time: 45 mins)

Return Route: instead of simply retracing your steps, it is highly recommended to initially spend a little time exploring the stunning, surreal and extensive dune area inland from the monument.

Make your way through/across these by any route of your choice, heading for S 34 39.067 E 20 14.216 where you will find small trails leading to the sandy jeep track accessing Dassiekrans.

Then from here retrace your steps back to Arniston. Do not continue following the jeep track (as we did, before being confronted by locked gates and having to bushwack for 15 mins to regain the beach) as this makes a 1,5km inland loop before heading back into the village.

To Find the Cache: obtain the following information from looking at the various plaques on the monument:

1. The convoy which the Arniston was in ‘sailed from Point de Gall on or about the Ath of April’
2. The monument was blessed by two bishops on B0 May 2010
3. Thomas, the eldest of Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Geils’ 4 oldest sons who perished in the wreck was 1C years old
4. At the lower right of the plaque listing those who funded the construction of the monument is a number CS 287D

The cache is hidden at:

S 34 38.(A+D)(B+4)(B+C+D)   E 20 14.(Ax2)(C-D)(Bx3)

The monument commemorates the sinking of the Arniston Transport more than 200 years ago. It stands in an elevated position, with the backdrop of desolate sand dunes, facing the wreck site and the ocean where the ship came to its tragic end.

Of the 350 passengers and 28 crew on board, only 6 crew survived. The victims who tragically died included the 4 eldest sons of Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Geils of the 73rd Regiment, sent home to Scotland in the care of Lord and Lady Molesworth.

In February of 1816, the Geils family travelled from Ceylon to the Cape Colony. The inconsolable parents requested permission from the Governor of the Cape Colony, Lord Charles Somerset, to erect a small monument in memory of their sons and of Lord and Lady Molesworth. Permission was granted and in September 1816 a monument was erected overlooking the wreck site.

However, over time the monument, a stone tablet with an inscription fixed to a brickwork pedestal, weathered and crumbled. In 1905 the sand-damaged tablet was removed to a museum in Cape Town where it remained for many years. It was moved again to the front of the Arniston Spa Hotel. Its current resting place is in the Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum.

The new monument was constructed in March 2010 by Robert Haarburger. Its structure was based on drawings from the national archives in Cape Town. It was built in the same style and form as the original monument. Bishop Mervyn Castle and Father Nolan Tobias attended the blessing and unveiling of the new monument on 30 May 2010.