Groot Constantia Trail #11: Rising from the Ashes (Part 2) | History (1975-1997)
This is the 11th and final cache of the trail which will take you around this beautiful historic vineyard passing by most of its key features along the way.
The cache, a small camo-taped flip-topped dispensing pot, is hidden in a shady grove of multi-trunked gum trees.
To Reach the Cache Location: from #10 continue west to the track junction @ S 34 1.715 E 18 24.577 and turn left (south). Follow this track down through the vineyards and at the T-junction ascend the short distance to the cache location. From the cache, simply follow the main track down alongside the wooded area, then across, passing the location of #8 near the bath and back to and down the wooded avenue to the main complex and your cachemobile.
Rising from the Ashes (Part 2)
. . . When examining the surviving walls and gables, Kendall discovered that the original house was much lower than it appeared in 1926. Small Dutch klinker bricks used in the original building only reached up to the current window sills and above this level larger and more modern bricks were used.
The central Gable above the window-sills had been built with an indiscriminate mixture of the two kinds of brick, showing it was a later addition. At the top end of the Drawing Room he also found two casement windows which had been filled in and concluded the sash windows in the front wall, about double the height of the now filled-in casement windows must have been inserted at the time that the original wall had been cut down to sill level to allow for the sashes to be incorporated at the main front and back walls.
He discovered the high walls and gables were built using only soft bricks and clay mortar. Large buttresses providing support and rigidity to the gables and reaching almost to the same height only became visible after the fire. A continuous wall reaching some eight feet high above ceiling level and stretching across the building was also exposed by the destruction of the ceilings by the fire.
About a dozen tenders were received for the reconstruction of the Manor House of which the lowest by Messrs. Hoheisen and Co., was signed off to the amount of £7,493.
One of the urgent problems to be addressed was how to protect the unstable old walls denuded of most of their plaster from the imminent winter rains. The exposed soft bricks made from clay mortar would have been destroyed by rain and moisture. Fortunately, a solution of alum and soap sprayed onto the exposed walls adequately sealed them against any moisture.
Although in the restoration of ruins in older countries the grouting of liquid cement had generally worked wonders, unfortunately, in this case the walls were too soft and porous to withstand such treatment. Traditionally, many of the old Cape houses (including GC) were built of local sun-dried bricks with the walls consisting of these bricks with a mortar clay and plastered over with lime.
To repair the soft walls new bricks set in lime mortar of moderate quality were used to replace the original bricks which had collapsed, and wrought iron anchor ties were used to strengthen weak points in the building (modern cement does not adhere to sun dried bricks).
Reinforced concrete beams were laid on top of the old walls at ceiling level to brace both the walls and gables. According to Kendall these beams anchored the walls below and provided the gables above with firm points of contact for additional buttressing or support. The internal buttresses above ceiling level for the gables were removed when the concrete beams were laid, and new buttresses of greater depth were constructed on the new concrete ceilings which provided a firm foundation.
This is the one aspect of the restoration which was criticised by the eminent architect, the late Norman Eaton, who subsequently oversaw the restoration of The Parsonage, also known as Reinet House, now the Graaff Reinet Museum. Eaton was not convinced that the erection of an obstructive reinforced concrete ceiling to replace the traditional brandsolder, even if strengthening and fire protection were given as the reasons, was appropriate for this historic building. He argued that both these objectives could have been achieved using traditional methods and without having to close off a large and interesting part of Groot Constantia to the interested visitor. Interestingly, Eaton makes the comment that Kendall was so sensitive about other things, that it is difficult not to suspect this was forced on him by some outside influence or authority. He goes on to say that nothing about it could now be done and visitors appear to have been deprived for all time of the enjoyment of this very important part of our most historic house.
Traditionally, a brandsolder is constructed through coating layers of puddled clay or lime plaster on the beamed ceiling in which bricks or tiles are embedded. Not only did the clay or bricked brandsolder protect the lower part of the house against fire, a necessary protection during an era when all the roofs were thatch and no form of firefighting consisted, but it also kept such houses cool in summer and warm in winter.
Kendall discovered the lower (East) gable was full of cracks and had ‘bellied’ out considerably. Initially, it was thought the whole gable would have to be taken down and rebuilt but by careful removal of the crumbling bricks around the cracks and replacing them with good material reinforced with iron ties, the whole feature was preserved.
The front gable, one of the chief attractions of Groot Constantia caused much anxiety . . . ‘Consider the position. Here was a massive wall pierced by the wide central entrance and two flanking windows, with most of the weight of the Gable above carried on the teak lintels spanning these openings’. But the fire had destroyed the lintels, so there was very little support for the weight of the massive gable.
A complete system of internal and external shoring was erected so that the various gables would not collapse. The gaping cavities where the lintels had been were carefully filled in with bricks in cement so that the Gable could rest on a firm base.
Some genuine old doors became available from one of the old houses in Cape Town which had recently been pulled down and were found to be eminently suitable for an old farm house such as GC. This fact shows how casually many fine old Cape buildings were demolished in more modern times. At the beginning of the 20th century there were over 3,000 buildings and homesteads in the Old Cape style. It is sad to note that at a 1966 census under 500 remained and of these only 275 retained their original features.
Kendall was justifiably very proud of his efforts to restore GC and his personal Ex Libris (Bookplate) displays the restored main facade of this beautiful Manor House.
During the restoration process it was agreed that GC would no longer be used as a residence and because of its historical significance would be refurbished as a museum. Obtaining suitable antique furniture was challenging as all its previous furniture had been destroyed by the fire. Fortunately for posterity, Alfred Aaron de Pass generously undertook to furnish the whole of Groot Constantia at his personal expense. De Pass and well-known antique dealer H Robinson sourced suitable antiques from the Cloete era, which in turn were approved by Kendall and Major W Jardine, Africana book and antique collector. Towards the middle of 1927 the furniture collection was housed for the first time in Groot Contantia. Other than a leading article in the Cape Times of 29 June 1927, which praised the generous donation of De Pass, his donation received little publicity. In the same year, without any formal occasion, the new museum was opened to the public.
(extracted from a 2019 Heritage Portal article by SJ de Klerk)
History (1975-1997)
1975: Hoop op Constantia and part of Nova Constantia are consolidated with GC. An adjoining property, Coleyn, follows in the early 1980s.
1976: The GC Control Board is established, replacing the Department of Agricultural Technical Services as viticultural body on the farm.
1984: The Groot Constantias State Estate, including the GC and Hoop op Constantia homesteads and all the outbuildings thereon, are declared a National Monument.
1993: Ownership of the entire estate is transferred from the government to an independent company named the GC Constantia Trust NPC RF with the main aim to preserve and maintain the cultural heritage of the estate for posterity by keeping it in Trust for the Nation.
The historic bath, homestead, Jonkershuis complex, and wine cellar are restored by architects Revel Fox & Partners. The project is completed in 1994.
1994: Restoration of the pediment gable of the Cloete cellar.
1996: Restoration of the graveyard.
1997: Renovation to Hoop op Constantia.
