The coastline here is rocky with few beaches. The sea is considered to be rough and dangerous. There are relatively few towns which traditionally served as holiday destinations. Much of the coast is part of declared nature reserves, which further limits the establishment of towns.
The Strand area was first mentioned in 1696 when a certain corporal Muller working for the Dutch East Indian Company set foot on the white beaches of Milk Bay. In 1714, a farm called Vlooibaai was granted to a French Huguenot, David du Buisson. David du Buisson at a certain stage, was a tutor for the children of Pierre Joubert in the Drakenstein (Close to Paarl) area. David du Buisson married the 17-year-old Claudine Lombard in 1707. The farm Vlooibaai stretched from the Lourens River to the Farm Onverwach that belonged to Phillip Morkel. In 1717 David Buisson and his family were attacked by fugitive slaves but escaped with their lives. When David du Buisson died in 1722 the farm was transferred to his widow. In 1748, the farm was sold to Olof de Wet. Later, the farm Vlooibaai was also bought by the Morkel family, and the Morkel family owned three farms: Vlooibaai, Onverwacht and Voorberg. These farms probably formed the biggest part of what is today known as the Strand.
A magistrate from Stellenbosch named Daniel van Ryneveld owned this seaside property in the early 1800s, where he allowed local farmers to camp. This informal holiday spot eventually grew into a permanent settlement. Originally called Somerset Strand, the area was proclaimed a municipality in 1897. In 1918 is was named Die Strand (the name which is still commonly used in the Afrikaans community), before becoming officially known as Strand in 1937.
Melkbaai is the main and most popular beach in Strand. It is renowned for being one of the safest and best bathing areas in the country due to its flat, white sandy shore and shallow waters that remain waist-deep for a significant distance.
Despite the shallow beach, the Stand Surf Lifesaving Club has operated there since 1958. There have been shark attacks at Strand in South Africa. Notable incidents include a 14-year-old surfer being attacked in November 2007, suffering leg injuries, and another attack in October 2010 at Melkbaai in Strand, where a teenager sustained serious foot lacerations. Both victims survived, with at least one attack attributed to a Great White shark.
A pavilion was built along the 5km beach in 1913, creating a popular attraction, which began to decline when a tidal swimming pool was built at Melbaai, about 1km away. Today, the pavilion has been rebuilt twice, and it now features a 50m indoor swimming pool.
17 April 2025
From the archives: It's difficult to believe that the modern timeshare building that now stands proudly next to the Strand's well-known pier had its origin in 1914 as a wooden structure where bathers could change into their swimming costumes.
The Strand is one of the oldest holiday towns in South Africa, and the structure in the black-and-white photo (taken between 1914 and 1920) was built specifically for the sake of holidaymakers and bathers.
Back then eyebrows were raised if you simply arrived at the beach in your swimwear, so bathers were very grateful when this first wooden pavilion was completed in 1914, complete with changing cubicles and showers.
Barely four years later, the wooden structure was damaged in a fire. It was repaired, but was reduced to ruins in 1923. In 1929, a brick pavilion was built more or less in the same place, with a playground and a cinema.
The Strand's famous wooden pier was only built next to the Pavilion in 1934. (This pier has since been closed to the public for safety reasons.)
The Pavilion's popularity began to wane when Melkbaai, a kilometer or so away, was opened as a swimming spot and people rather sought refreshment there. The Pavilion was later declared unsafe and demolished in 1972.
The Strand Pavilion complex as it looks today, with a restaurant over the water and an Olympic-sized swimming pool, was erected in 1990 on the foundations of the earlier building
.
The first Europeans who left their footprints on the Strand's white beaches were presumably four deserters who planned to walk along the coast to Mozambique to escape Jan van Riebeeck's oppression. However, they didn't get far and had to turn back with their tails between their legs.
In the early 1800s, the Stellenbosch magistrate Daniel van Ryneveld allowed farmers to camp on his farm, Somerset Strand. They could later build holiday homes.
Later, after the Anglo-Boer War, many citizens settled here.
This article originally appeared in April 2007. Facts may have changed since then.
Sources: The Story of Hottentots-Holland by Peggy Heap
Die Strand en sy mense deur Faure de Kock
The Strand Jetty was a prominent feature of the Strand beachfront. The jetty was built by Murray and Stewart in 1934. It featured a 70-meter-long, 2.5-meter-wide walkway extending into the sea, ending in a larger 7.5 x 9-meter platform, constructed using large square Australian Jarrah timber log columns, which were driven into the seabed. Over time, the structure became derelict and broken, with its weathered beams remaining as a landmark, often described as a "skeleton" or broken structure on the beach.
Kalk Bay (including Muizenberg and St James) was a municipality from 1895 to 1913. The Wynberg Railway Company extended the Southern Railway Line to Muizenberg on 15 December 1882 and a further extension to Kalk Bay on 5 May 1883. The railway line was built across the beach, which "jeopardised" the traditional practice of launching small fishing boats from the shore. This physical barrier was a major factor in the eventual push to build the artificial Kalk Bay Harbour (completed in 1918). In 2026, it is still a working fishing harbour, where boats bring in hauls of snoek and yellowtail.
In 1907, there were still no public bathing facilities, and in 1908, men's and women’s bathing screens, hangers, shower baths, and floor mats were provided.
In 1911, the Kalk Bay Muizenberg Municipality contracted Charles McGhie to formalise the walling of Bishop’s Pool, thereby creating a long rectangular pool that bathers walked into over a sloping sand beach.
However, these early structures were destroyed by high tides. In response, a concrete pavilion was built in 1913 for £420.
The previous structures served bathers until 1939, when they were demolished to make way for a third, more permanent pavilion. This building, which opened on the 9th November 1939, remains the core of the current Brass Bell complex.
Conflict with local residents arose when the restaurant tried to restrict public access to the pools. Read more about the access dispute below.
YOLANDE DU PREEZ 2025
https://falsebayecho.co.za/news/2025-01-24-echoes-of-bygone-beach-days-ring-out-at-brass-bell/
An undated picture of the Kalk Bay pavilion. Picture: Kalk Bay Historical Association.
Originally, two pavilions were built on the site to serve bathers using Bishop's Pool, a natural rock pool named after Bishop Gray, who frequented the area in the 1860s.
The Dalebrook tidal pool, further up the line, was the first of the pools to be built in Kalk Bay. It was illegally built in 1903 as a private undertaking by Mr F B Steer of Douglas Cottage.
According to the association’s records, the foreshore from Dalebrook southwards to Kalk Bay, though rocky, had a more gradual slope and broader and longer stretches of sand. Bathing was possible in many places, but the area was monopolised by boats, and fish cleaning that had polluted the water.
Instead, swimmers took to the rock pools and gullies near the station, one of which became known as Bishop’s Pool as Bishop Gray had often bathed there.
In 1907, there were still no public bathing facilities, and in 1908, men's and women’s bathing screens, hangers, shower baths, and floor mats were provided.
In 1911, the Kalk Bay Muizenberg Municipality contracted Charles McGhie to formalise the walling of Bishop’s Pool thereby creating a long rectangular pool that bathers walked into over a sloping sand beach.
However, these early structures were destroyed by high tides. In response, a concrete pavilion was built in 1913 for £420 which became the foundation of what is now the Brass Bell Restaurant.
It was situated south of the railway footbridge (today’s subway entrance) and provided bathing cubicles for men and women, as well as freshwater showers and toilets.
However, the following year, facilities were bursting at the seams, and Mr Dellbridge built a second pavilion north of the railway footbridge, which included a tea room.
This became the new women’s pavilion while the first pavilion became the men’s pavilion. Both offered the same facilities of seven freshwater showers and toilets, except that the men’s was larger with 44 cubicles compared to the 24 for women.
Together they catered for 700 bathers a day.
In the same year, a low wall was built across the beach end of the pool to prevent sand from silting it.
In 1914, all bathing boxes that had stood against the rail embankment were removed to open up more beach space, and the city council built 60 metres of sea wall to prevent the sea from scouring the beach sand.
In 1905, the Cape Government Railways had built a 150-metre long and 5-metre-wide wooden sea-side platform, which allowed Kalk Bay to also boast of having a promenade in addition to two pavilions and a pool.
In 1922, a new square pool, named Kalk Bay Pool, was built onto the north side of Bishop’s Pool, substantially enlarging the area available for safe bathing. A new children’s pool was also built at the end of Bishop’s Pool.
During the 1930s, seawalls were built to protect the beach areas. In 1938, a sea wall was extended southwards to enclose a sand beach, and a new children’s pool was built to replace the former one.
These pavilions served many thousands of bathers until they were demolished in 1939, and a new pavilion, the third on this beach, opened on November 9, 1939.
It is this structure that forms the core of today’s Brass Bell Restaurant, which has leased the premises, once the tea room, since the early 1970s, when the pavilion and the station milk bar were renovated and rebuilt to form a restaurant.
Bathers enjoying the facilities at the pavilion. Picture: Kalk Bay Historical Association.
An undated picture of Bishop’s Pool in Kalk Bay. Picture: Kalk Bay Historical Association
An undated postcard of the man-made beach before the pavilion was constructed. Picture: Kalk Bay Historical Association.
“I do not intend at this stage to proceed with the small wooden platform,” Brass Bell owner Tony White told Daily Maverick on Tuesday.
White began construction last month on an intended 3x7m wooden deck to “enhance the experience of patrons to the Brass Bell” by providing them with an area to sunbathe without getting covered in sand. The area had already been cleared and eight concrete footings installed on the beach when Daily Maverick visited on 31 March.
White’s expansion of the restaurant’s premises into the public space sparked an outcry from Kalk Bay residents, who called for an end to the construction that would expand the deck over a large area surrounding the children’s tidal pool.
Protests by residents took place on 30 March and 2 April at the Brass Bell, and the City of Cape Town, with a representative from Oceans and Coasts Environmental Compliance, inspected the site on Wednesday, 30 March after being alerted about the construction the previous day.
Read in Daily Maverick: Kalk Bay residents move to block businessman from ‘privatising historic public beach area’
The land is owned by Prasa and is leased to the Brass Bell for commercial purposes. Cape Town’s deputy mayor, Eddie Andrews, previously confirmed to Daily Maverick that the city does not have a copy of the lease agreement or the conditions.
The land contains the Kalk Bay tidal pools, which consist of two large adjoining pools and a smaller children’s pool, and the Brass Bell restaurant. To get to the pools, swimmers need to walk through the Brass Bell, which has expanded over the years and now covers most of the area around the pools.
At the meeting on Tuesday, 5 April, “It was confirmed that Prasa Cres requires, in terms of the lease agreement, that the tenant must be aware of and meet all of the statutory requirements, such as an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), building plan approvals, health and safety compliance and fire safety where applicable,” Andrews said.
“Should the lessee be found to be in breach of this requirement, he will be provided with the opportunity to comply with the applicable statutory requirements.”
On Friday, 1 April, the city’s building inspector served notices in terms of the national building regulations to White to cease building work to comply with section 4 (to obtain written approval for unauthorised building work within 60 days) and section 12 (to secure the building, ensure public safety and appoint fire and structural engineers).
“The city’s building inspector also served additional and separate notices on Prasa Cres as the landowner at the meeting on 5 April,” said Andrews.
If construction should proceed, building plans must be submitted to the city’s Development Management Department and assessed for compliance with the Development Management Scheme, which determines the use of the land.
“A land use application would need to be submitted to the city if the intended use of the erf requires consent or is not in line with its zoning rights, which may require the application to go through a public participation process prior to its consideration by the delegated authority,” said Andrews.
The construction took place within 100m of the high-water mark, which in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (Nema) would require an EIA. Andrews previously told Daily Maverick that “the determination as to whether an EIA is required depends on many factors, not only proximity to the high-water mark.
“Pre-constructed or pre-disturbed areas may not need an EIA — in this case, it is a determination that the national government will make.”
In terms of environmental compliance, Andrews said the following actions would be taken:
Andrews said White “is required to excavate and remove the eight concrete footings that he installed on the beach”.
However, White claims he had not been asked to remove remnants of the construction.
“I have not been requested to excavate and remove the concrete,” he said.
Faez Poggenpoel, a fifth-generation fisherman in Kalk Bay and a representative of the small-scale fishing community, told Daily Maverick that while this is progress, “it needs to be a statement to the government as well as to the city that they need to do more to protect these spaces — not only deal with the problem when communities rise up”.
Prasa Cres denied multiple requests for comment and maintained that this was not a Prasa issue, despite Prasa’s position as the landowner and its attendance at the meeting on 5 April.
The acting Metrorail Western Cape spokesperson, Nana Zenani, said the Brass Bell had carried out the renovations without informing Prasa Cres, and therefore the establishment had to respond to queries, not the railway agency.
“Prasa was not aware of the renovations by Brass Bell,” said Zenani.
Prasa’s spokesperson, Andiswa Makanda, previously told GroundUp that when the construction was brought to their attention, a letter had been issued to the Brass Bell requesting approval documents. DM
The first pool from the north along the Atlantic coastline of Cape Town is a derelict site known as Graaf's Pool.
Graaf's pool has a unique place in the story of the South African tidal pool for all the fuss it has caused. The pool was built in 1910 to accommodate the needs of a paralysed woman who lived in a mansion right behind the pool. It featured a tunnel for access under the beach road, and a wall to shield the users from view. After her, the mansion and the pool were owned by a politician named Graaff, after whom the pool was named, and who later bequeathed the pool to the City of Cape Town.
It soon became a popular hangout spot for gay men, who congregated behind the wall and swam in the nude. After a number of years, some of the locals objected to this practice, and the wall was demolished in 2005. The pool was demolished in 2005, although some features have survived in 2026.
2005-06-09 21:59
Cape Town - Nudie landmark Graaff's Pool - labelled by a city councillor as a venue where sex was for sale, drugs were peddled and the area used as a toilet - is almost gone.
A huge bulldozer started on Thursday with the destruction of the concrete wall around the well-known pool on the Sea Point promenade.
For councillor J P Smith, representing Sea Point and Green Point and who was there to monitor the proceedings, it was the end of a three-year campaign.
He said: "We can now make an end to the abuse of Graaff's Pool."
Smith approached the council three years ago with a deposition to do away with the concrete wall protecting the historic Graaff's Pool from prying eyes on land.
He was supported by the Sea Point Ratepayers' Association, as well as the area's community policing forum.
Tunnel under the street
Smith said: "It took us a long time to weigh up the pros and cons of this move and we eventually decided the demolition of the wall was justified.
"It no longer serves any useful purpose for the community."
The pool dates from the period when the former politician and leader of the opposition, Sir de Villiers Graaff and his family had a home across the street in Beach Road.
It was even possible for them to walk along a tunnel underneath the street to the pool where bathing was strictly in the nude.
The tunnel entrance can still be seen today.
In later years the family donated the pool to the city council.
Initially, only men were allowed to use it and it was only much later that women were allowed to use it.
'A hotspot for crime'
According to Smith, the sea took its toll through the years and storm damage caused cracks in the wall and even took away sections of concrete.
Smith said: "In time, it became a hotspot for crime.
"Condoms and stolen property were found there regularly and rent boys also used the place as a hangout."
The Western Cape heritage watchdog initially gave permission for the demolition of the wall to a height of one metre.
However, Smith is presenting a further deposition to break the wall down to the rock surface and have the area restored to its original state.
https://www.news24.com/graaffs-pool-cut-down-to-size-20050609
Extracts from a Master's Thesis, by Andre Malan. Read the full Thesis here.
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Architecture (Professional)
by Andre Malan
Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author.
RAIL!
While railways were being built in and around the
city as far back as 1862, it was not until 1905 that a
passenger line to Sea Point was opened. The line ran
at a loss for many years. In 1927, it was electrified,
but soon after, in 1929, the line was closed.
"When the line was lifted, the railway property
became public land, which could not be built upon.
So the wide green lawns along the sea front, of which
Sea Point is so proud, are the only memorial to the
vanished Sea Point railway." (Burman: 1984)
DARWIN'S DISCOVERY
Rocks along the Sea Point coast are world famous in
the field of geology. A site known as the
Sea Point Contact, was visited and documented by Charles
Darwin during a geological voyage from 1832 to
1836. His observations here would later help him to
suggest that the world had been around long enough
for his natural selection hypothesis to be true.
Some 540 million years ago, at the Contact, molten
granite magma was injected into black sedimentary
rocks of the Malmesbury Group. Today Cape
Granite and the Malmesbury Group are two of the
most prolific rock type in the country. The extreme
heat of the molten granite softened, stretched and
delaminated the rocks of the Malmesbury Group. This
left a complex mixed zone stretching over 150m
along the coast.
This contact event, however, is not responsible
for the distinctly recognisable appearance of the
dark angular rocks (of the Malmesbury group)
surrounding Graaffs Pool. These are a result of
a geological process called orogeny. The orogeny
in this case, caused by pressure from a collision
between the South American, Antarctic and African
continental plates slowly colliding resulted in
dramatic deformation of the upper layer of the
earth's crust. Thus, the dark sedimentary rock
was split and folded in along a North West axis.
Today, these sedimentary layers can still be observed
as in most rocks, only in this case, they are not
parallel to the horizon but protrude diagonally
outward.
TECHNIQUE AND TOOLING
Drilling and Blasting, the dominant method of quarrying, has
changed little since its ancient inception. While manually boring
devices have been swapped out for machines and chemical
advances made in the composition of explosives, the basic
principles have endured.
The process of Blasting Rocks consists, after
selecting the most suitable position, in boring a hole
with a hammer and drill; the latter is a straight
bar or iron an inch or more in thickness, with a
steel point, widened out to the size of the required
hole; it is formed like a very blunt chisel.
Around the perimeter of the pool, many of these blasted faces can be seen
TIDE & POOL
The objective of the experimental measurements of the inflow due to wave action
was to optimize the height of the seawall so as to achieve a satisfactory fresh water
replenishment rate without the occurrence of unduly rough conditions within the
pool.
The lowering of the crest level by 200mm revealed in the experimental analysis
virtually no change to the conditions of no-inflow but did affect quite appreciably
the total inflow and bathing conditions.
A final crest level for construction purposes of 1,40m (above) M.S.L was adopted.
In his paper, 'Design of Coastal Structures for
Recreational Purposes', engineer, G H O'Connell,
tests the wall heights at 200mm intervals before
reaching the perfect measurement. Adhering to
this sort of model, nearby, Milton's Pool uses man
made walls to retain water and a manually operated
valve (or plug) to drain the pool at spring low
tides. Unfortunately, the unique rock formations
dissipate wave energy unusually fast and waves
seldom break into the pool. Consequently, the
warm water is swamped with algae, and due to
poor management is seldom emptied.
Compared to typical tidal pools, Graaffs Pool sits
dramatically lower in the tidal range. Perimeter
rocks range in height from about 1,20m - 0.40m
above mean sea level. At low tide, it is full enough
to bathe in. At high tide, waves regularly crash into
the pool and drain over large portions of the brim.
The turbulent in-flow and dangerous suction areas
make the pool treacherous at high tides.
1. G.H.O'Connell, Design of Coastal Structures for
Recreational Purposes, Proceedings of 18th Conference on
Coastal Engineering: Cape Town (1982).
2. D.E.Bosman & D.J.P. Scholtz, A Survery of Man-made Tidal
Swimming Pools Along the South Mrican Coast, Proceedings of
18th Conference on Coastal Engineering: Cape Town (1982).
With this in mind, when designing a new pool,
a system of waves and valves used for water
circulation is out of the question. Instead, the
proposed pool works on the same principle as
Graaffs Pool, but on the other end of the tidal
range. Set in a podium further inland and higher
than Milton's Pool, the new pool is protected from
most wave action. At high tide, when Graaffs Pool
is inaccessible, a gulley in the podium fills the
new pool with water. As the tide ebbs, the water
is drained completely, exposing the rocks below.
WATER. [tunnel]
The quarrymen left a pool that filled up with the natural
rhythms of the tide. Across from the pool in a winemaker's
mansion, the lady of the house was confined to a wheelchair.
A wall was erected on the rocks to hide her while she bathed.
A path connected the hidden pool to the shore, and a tunnel
continued underground to her home. The pool became an
intimate, private place- an extension of the bedroom.
RETURNING GAZE
Out of the tall, slender top windows of the Villa Bordeaux,
the Lady of the House could see out of her room. From
this vantage point, she could survey the street and the
public passersby in concealment. In her practice of
voyeurism she established a gaze from the house, over
the outside world, terminating the pool.
As an audience member in a theatre looks out
from a dark concealed position to the open stage (of
infinite possibility and expanse), Lady Wheelchair
would've looked out upon the pool from her dark
house. Hence, if only in her own mind, she would have
established something akin to the relationship between
the stage actor and the audience. With this in mind, it
is easy to imagine the anxiety that might arise upon
visiting the pool. By crossing over the proscenium, an
invisible screen, and arriving on the stage as a reluctant
actor - forced into the gaze of an unknown voyeurl.
In the 1920's, stigmas and misunderstandings about
disability would have been far more pronounced
than today. Whether from prejudice against her or a
personally constructed self-image, it is assumed that
Lady Wheelchair was self-conscious of her physical
embodiment.
The voyeur, of course, was herself. The gaze came
from a private place, one where she was exposed in her
most intimate and vulnerable ways.
In an essay ''The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism", theorist Beatriz Colomina
embarks on a rigorous analysis of interior spaces created by Adolf Loos and
Le Corbusier, respectively. Through strictly spatial and experiential terms
Ms Colomina explores notions of voyeurism, the body, the eye, and the skin in
conjunction with interior domestic spaces.
The reading offered above of the relationship between Graaff's Pool,
the Villa Bordeaux, and the Lady in the Wheelchair, is rooted in this mode
of investigation.
LADY WHEELCHAIR
The story of a lady in wheelchair has been attached
to the mysterious, inaccessible tunnel for years.
Inherited as folklore in the area, it has been retold,
and reshaped countless times.
Exactly how much is truth and how much is fantasy
is not as important as the existence of the story
itself, so tightly bound to these hidden and strange
spaces.
The tunnel and pool is often thought to have been
built by Mr Jacobus Graaff, after whom the pool
now take its name. And it is described so in a
Lawrence G. Green's I Heard the Old Man Say, a
key source of histories written about the Sea Point
area. It was built, the story goes, so that the wealthy
Graaff family could walk down, in silks, from their
palatial villa to bathe in the ocean without having
to interact with common members of society. No
doubt at one point this could have been the case
but pool is recorded as being in existence as far
back as 1910.
Bordeaux, a seafront mansion, was
built in 1903 for Mr. Pieter Marais,
a wine merchant. Sir Jacobus
Graaff bought it some years later.
Thousands knew Bordeaux as an
hotel with panelled rooms, a wide
stairway, Edwardian chandeliers,
mosaic floors, many stained-glass
windows, marble fireplaces and
other signs of wealth. Some of the
less bizarre furnishings were built
into the entrance of the millionpound block of flats which replaced
Bordeaux. Graaff’s Pool, originally a stone
quarry, gained its world famous
name when Sir Jacobus provided
most of the money for blasting a
channel in the rocks and building a
wall. Other bathers subscribed one
pound a head. According to legend,
Sir Jacobus had a secret passage
built so that he could walk
unobserved in bathing costume
from Bordeaux to the beach.
Demolition men found evidence of
a bricked-up tunnel when Bordeaux
was pulled down. However, the
truth is different. Sir Jacobus was
afraid that his children would be
run over while crossing the railway
line. He asked for a subway, and
when his request was turned down
he started building the tunnel. Then the subway was built, and the
tunnel was abandoned.
A more plausible account denies that the tunnel
ever reached the villa Bordeaux. Cape Argus
journalist John De Nobrega wrote an attempted
debunking of the tunnel story in 1966. The Tunnel
that Never Was, claims that the partially covered
archway served as a subway for the old rail line
and terminated on the other side of the tracks.
The Lady, however, almost certainly did exist,
and was certainly the wife of Mr Pieter Marais.
Marais, a prominent member of the Round Church
in Sea Point was a wealthy man with ties to the
wine industry. He is credited with building the
mansion at Villa Bordeaux in 1903 and naming it
after a popular wine farming region in France.
Lady Marais fell into poor health following the
death of her only child shortly after childbirth.
Marischal Murray in Under Lion's Head writes
the following:
"Mrs Marais, for some years remained in poor
health. Her husband now arranged for an approach to be
made, from the front gates ofBordeaux, leading down to
the small pool in the rocks below Bordeaux. Such stones
as could be removed were carted away, and during the
hot weather the invalid was periodically wheeled down
to have sea-water bath."
In conclusion, the accompanying photograph shows
Mr and Mrs Marais, seated. A black object, perhaps
handlebars, appears from between the Lady's
knees. A curious shadow to Pieter's left seems, too
to have handles extending in front of the standing
lady's waist. Lastly, while one mystery is solved
three others arrive - whose are these children?
One can only declare that the value of this story is
housed in the power of this unknown.
PARTI
There is a sense of ambition and determination
against nature pervading the design of Graaffs
Pool. Jacobus Graaff served in the 1920's as a
Minister of Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs.
Here, he would have overseen and maintained
vast developments in the Province. His old brother,
Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, previously in
the same Cabinet position, had been involved in
realizing Cape Town's first electric power station
at Molteno Reservoir; the Sea Point Sea WaIP;
and with haunting similarity, Cape Town's pier
extending from Adderly Street into the bay.
Although physically smaller, Graaffs Pool was
conceived and built in the same era as these large
scale public amenities. And consequently imbued
with a similar sense of boldness.
Aspiring to transform Graaff's Pool into a more
public place, initial urban responses reached out
to the site's dimensional limits through a series of
sketches. Building on a satellite location was out
of the question; so was building upward, above
the promenade or further out to sea. Venturing
over the rocks, however, would resonate with the
previous building techniques. By digging into the
earth, one could begin to modify the preexisting,
creating new meaning and value in the same way
the rock void bore the original pool.
The first sketch suggested a sort of endless copying
of the pool-platform-path assemblage which would
cover the coastline in a mat of accessibility. A
move away from one singular object seemed
more democratic, but unbridled openness would
obliterate the special isolation and intimacy that
were so significant here.
BORDEAUX AND BELOW
The Villa Bordeaux was built in 1903 by Pieter
Marais, who lived there with his wife and
bachelor brother, Arnoldus Marais.
Later, after falling on hard times financially, the mansion was
sold to Mr Graaff. Who added a second story and
extended the tower at the entrance.
Graaff, known affectionately as Koos or most
formally as Sir Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck
Graaff was born in Villiersdorp in 1863. He later
moved to Cape Town and made his fortune in the
Cold Storage industry along with his older, better
known brother, David Pieter de Villiers Graaff.
Graaff later took an interest in politics and worked
in various positions until becoming the minister of
Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs.
At Bordeaux, he is described as being graciously
hospitable and unostentatiously philanthropic?
Around 1929 the pool opposite the mansion was
given over to the public, and from then on it became
known as Graaffs Pool, but for many years prior it
had been named Below Bordeaux.
From then on, the old manor house was converted
and used as a hotel. It remained this way for 30
years until, in 1959, the structure was demolished
to make way for what is still today the largest
block of flats in Sea Point.
As buildings usually seems to be named after
the thing they destroy, this one is no exception.
Bordeaux, the immense block of flats that looks
over Graaff's Pool would later re-shape the way
the pool is inhabited and experienced.
1. Green claims the mansion was built in 1903 by P. Marais but
Murray claims the Marais estate was sub·divided and portions sold
following the Cape Bank failures of the 18805 and 18905. Also that
Marais died in 1901 on a nearby property named Marseilles.
COAST
Before the sea wall, Sea Point's coastline was very different. Beach Road sat on a mound
of sandy soil which dipped down to the 'bleak rockscape'l and into the sea. The wall was
conceived to provide a neat edge to the coast, help kelp return to the water and provide a
dumping ground near the city. After the wall was built, refuse and rubble filled up behind it
it. For some time, it was an eyesore
SUN
A new owner gave the pool to the public. But the space's
exclusivity continued. Obscured from sight, wealthy men
sunbathed nude. Liberated from their confines, the group grew
larger and expanded the pool, too.
For those outside, it was a sign that forbidden practices
were concealed here. The excluded were forced to imagine
what happened behind the clean white walls. Projections of
their forbidden desires overflowed into conversations, novels
and newspapers.
The tension from not seeing became unbearable.
After Graaff's Pool had been opened to the public, it witnessed
a large influx of visitors. Around this time it became desirable
to expand the pool. Having undergone previous expansions,
this was not unthinkable, but now the onus was on the City
Council. Or rather, it was the duty ofthe public to insic:;t on these
expansions. Below are excerpts from two letters to the Town
Clerk. They offer a window into two, or more fundamental
ways in which architecture is framed in discourse.
I take the liberty of addressing you in regard to the above
mentioned resort at Sea Point. Your Council may not be aware
of it, but Graafl's pool, owing to its sunbathing facilities, has
become exceedingly popular, and is the resort of men drawn
from all ranks of life. Daily you can see the members of
Parliament, advocates, medical practitioners, attorneys, civil
servants of high standing, architects and councilmen. 1 might
add that a certain Minister of the Crown is a regular visitor.
1 know too that last year there was a gentleman from
abroad who told us that he had heard of Graaff's Pool in
England, and during his visit to the city, he spent a great deal
of time there. Doubtless too, he has spread its fame abroad.
Then recently, the representative in Cape Town of a
gigantic American tourist concern, was himself a visitor.
The place is therefore worth some consideration ...
...1 trust the council will read my letter in the spirit in which
it is written. 1 merely wish to bring to your notice the fact that
Graaff's Pool is a far more important bathing resort that is
generally recognised...
1 am prepared at any time to meet a representative of
the Council on the spot and explain the position there.
- Daniel F. Bosman (28th February 1929)
In the 1927 petition to expand the pool, the ratepayers'
position is that the pool must be expanded to accommodate
more sunbathers since sunbathing has been medically proven
to improve one's health.
Daniel F. Bosman's dream is articulated less through
practical considerations and more through a description of
how much he, and others, like it. They all really like it. He
doesn't are argue for the pool's usefulness, rather he simply
derives pleasure from the space.
In 1930, extensions were approved, and the Pool expanded along with its history.
Of the three drawings, two from 1929 and one from 1961, the
latter is the most interesting. This document was drafted to
recorded repair works done on the pool following a massive
storm in 1961. The rear wall suffered the most damage in
the storm (Interestingly, it was the 1929 height extensions
that failed rather than the preceding construction. And still
today, after most of the walls were demolished, the surviving
uprights are those from before 1929.)
BUILDING UPON
Moulded, poured and set concrete is the dominant material of Graaff's Pool.
And the only operation that involved creating space was adding to the site. In
this sense, it constitutes the key act of building upon datums.
Besides the engineer's drawings and archived letters, this photo is the only
visual record of the construction process. It was taken at Mouille Point as the
progress of the sea wall neared the lighthouse. This is the very beginning of
the sea wall, which was built soon before Graaffs Pool. It relies on a similar
mass gravity approach to overcoming wave forces. At the base of the form
work, the thicker part shows the extent of the foundations, which rest directly
upon exposed rock. To the left of the picture frame, a buttress has begun to be
cast.
Many stories told about the nude bathing in Graaff's Pool have
captured the public's imagination over the years. One of the favourite
fables manages to frame a broader moral question.
THE ONE ABOUT THE OLD, PEEPING LADY
started when the city's chief engineer (and strong supporter of the pool, no doubt)
Dr S.S. Morris received a phone call from a disgusted lady complaining about
nude men exhibiting themselves on the Sea Point coast.
Dr Morris sent a man to meet with the old lady and investigate the complaint. He
arrived at the old lady's top-story flat, nearly half a kilometre from the pool, and
looking through the window, could see nothing but a blurred sea.
Confused, he turned to the little lady who said: "You can't see much now, but wait
until you climb onto the table and focus through the binoculars!"
MASSIVE ASSEMBLY
Graaff's Pool is almost a hundred years old,
and curiously, it is the oldest parts which have
weathered most gracefully. Barring the 2005
bulldozing, the main cause of structural failure
is steel reinforcement. The structural efficiency
of steel is impressive, but if compromised by
exposure to the sea air, oxidation begins. The
steel reinforcing expands within its concrete
casing, causing internal fracturing which leads
to dramatic structural failures. The most hardy
parts of Graaff's Pool, which still exist, are, of
course, those without steel reinforcing. Typical
walls translate horizontal loads down to their
foundations by resisting a bending moment. But
here, the mass gravity principle is employed.
The structure is simply so massive that it can't
be moved. This is aided by broad foundations
and a small amount of cantilevering afforded by
buttresses but the key to the old wall's resilience
is in its proportion: roughly as broad as it is high,
tapering to two-fifths of this dimension at its
highest point, with a footing behind that extends
the same distance again. These proportions can be
scaled up or down uniformly in the design of new
members.
Today, remnants of old events exist. Some people swim in
the pool or bath in the sun; romantics occasionally meet on
the spot.
But these experiences have been stripped of their purpose and
potency. And continue to be washed away by the ceaseless
forces of the sea.
CONCLUSION
Originally, this was a place of respite for those excluded in a social landscape
of prejudices. Paradoxically, after the transition into an ever more accepting
government, this space was destroyed. This derailment can only be set straight
by architectural intervention.
The danger of playing in this field is that one is compelled to resolve
conflict, cut through confusion with a clear voice and fix things to their
proper position. Rather, the design proposal presented here celebrates this
de-centered position by remembering local folk tales and understanding the
injustices. The spaces designed are focused on offering new pleasures to the
city by springboarding off the unique positions of the past. These are pleasures
of nature- the ocean, tides, rock, and pleasures of the body- submersion in
water, tactile textures and intimate interactions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Betsky. Queer Spcree. William Morrow and Company Inc.: New York. (1997)
C. Blignaut. End of the Road for Happy Campers at Graaffs Pool, in Cape Argus (09/05/1999)
D.E.Bosman & D.J.P. Scholtz. A Survey of Man-made Tidal Swimming Pools Along the South African Coast. 18th Conference on
Coastal Engineering: Cape Town (1982).
A.B.A Brink. Engineering Geology of Southern Africa: Rocks of 2000 to 300 million years in age. Building Publications Pretoria. (1981)
J. Burgoyne. A Treatise on the Blasting and Quarrying ofStone, Weale's Scientific and Technical Series: London (1874)
J. Burman. Early railways at the Cape. Human & Rousseau: Cape Town (1984)
B. Colomina. The Split Wall: Domestic Voyeurism in Sexuality & Space. Princeton Architectural Press: New York (1992)
G.H.O·Conneli. Design of Coastal Structures for Recreational Purposes. 18th Conference on Coastal Engineering: Cape Town (1982).
C. Darwin. Volcanic Islands: Visited During the Voyage of HMS Beagle. Smith. Elder and Co.: London (1844)
W. J. De Kock. Doctionary ofSouth African Biography, National Council for Social Research: Pretoria (1968)
E. Dommisse. Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff: first Barronet of De Grendel, Tafelberg Press: Cape Town (2011)
R. Evans. Translations from Drawings to Building and Other Essays. Architectural Association Publications: !--ondon (1997)
R. Evans. The Projective Cast: Architecture and its Three Geometries, MIT Press: Cambridge. Mass. (1995)
A. R. Fairweather. Sea Wall, Sea Point, from the South African Society of Civil Engineering Journal. Vol. 1. (1936)
1. Green. Poetical Dictionary (abridged), Atelos: Berkley. California (2003)
1. G. Green,I Heard the Old Men Say. Howard Timmins: Cape Town (1964)
Government publication. Report of the Railways and Harbours Board, [U.G. 141- 291. Cape Times: Cape Town (1929)
J. S. Hemming, A Short Account of Blasting Rocks at the Quarries in the Neighbourhood of Cape Town, G. J. Pike: Cape Town(1885)
M. de Landa. A Thousand Years of Non-Linear History. Zone Books: New York (1997)
M. Murray. Under Lion's Head: Earlier Days at Green Point and Sea Point, AA Balkema: Cape Town (1964)
K Nesbit ed.• Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architecture Theory 1965-1995. Princeton Architectural
Press: New York (1996) which contains the following essays:
B. Tschumi. Pleasures of Architecture, (1977)
B. Tschumi.Architecture and Limits I, (1980)
B. Tschumi. Architecture and Limits II, (1981)
B. Tschurni. Architecture and Limits III, (1981)
B. Tschumi. Introduction: Notes Towards a Theory of Architectural Disjunction. (1987)
J. D. Nobrega. The Tunnel that Never Was, in Cape Argus (09/041 1966)
G. Owens, ed. • Fundamentals of Concrete, Second Edition. Cement and Concrete Institute: Midrand. South Africa (2012)
J. Rahn. Music Inside Out: Going Too Far in Musical Essays. G+B Arts International: Amsterdam (2000)
P. B. Smons. Ice Cold in Africa: the history of the Imperial Cold Storage & Supply Company Ltd., Fernwood Press: Cape Town (2000)
B. Tschumi. Architectural Manifestoes, Architectural Association: London (1979)
interview with Bob Smith. Structural Engineer. Ingerop Engineering
interview with Gerrit Strydom. Landscape Architect. City Council
Interview with Dr. Hans-Dieter Beushausen. Engineer. Concrete Specialist
interview with Brian Rihcardson. Structural Engineer
National Archives of South Africa (NASA) documents (syntax: source; volume number; reference code)
3/CT; 4111111770; G65/6/26717;
3/CT; 412/111/185; A72;
3ICT; 411/5/91; B370/5; - closing of the subways. Rocklands •.... Graaff's Pool
3ICT; 411/5/144; B763/5;
3IeT; 412/1141226; 61125; -*contains drawings
3ICT; 411/1/41; A413/1; - Foreshore improvements•.... interview with Sir Dawid Graaff. 17/2/1911
3ICT; 411/2/18; A29412; - Suggested disposal of city refuse etc. on the property of Sir Dawid Graaff
T; 1070; 4003; - Cape.... building of sea wall and erection of a refuse destructor... Sea Point
(all images, unless otherwise stated, are the author's own; GIS data courtesy of Cape Town City Council)
Click here to see the whole map.
Cape Town is now touted as one of the best cities in the world to visit. In the summer, the temperature in the city can reach 42 degrees Celcius, driving locals and tourists to the beaches and tidal pools to cool down. The pools around Cape Town have become tourist attractions, featured on numerous websites.
The city developed after 1652 when the Dutch East India Company (the VOC) decided to develop a waystation for ships travelling to the East Indies. In 1795, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire invaded the Cape Peninsula due to its strategic location on the sea route to the East.
There is no evidence that pre-colonial inhabitants (Khoi, Strandlopers, or San) in the area swam in the sea. The VOC left extensive records of its activities at the Cape, but made no mention of any recreational sea swimming by its employees. There is, however, a mention in a footnote in a VOC document, 28 Januarie 1690 Dagregister. It records that a convict named Johannes Rijkman van Weij escaped by swimming to shore! So, swimming was not unknown to the Dutch settlers at that time, and perhaps they did swim, but left no record of it.
The British introduced sea swimming and tidal pools in the Cape. For context, the first English Church service of which we know was held in Cape Town by a naval chaplain of the fleet returning from India on April 20, 1749. The British military, which invaded the Cape in 1795, brought with them their love for water sports (and gambling). The British swam in the rivers, vleis, the ocean, the harbour and the graving dock. and also in indoor swimming pools, like A 1869 British newspaper article mentions a floating pool in Table Bay, which survived a big storm. Such floating structures were (and still are) popular in Europe. Elaborate water festivals, which included swimming races, water polo, diving and other entertainments, were popular in England since the middle-1700's. In Cape Town, these festivals were held in the dry dock or one of the indoor swimming pools, like the Long Street Bath.
In the late 1700's, a concrete wall was built across a gully in the rocks in Sea Point. This became part of a thriving social scene before it washed away in a storm, as the northwesterly winds can create enormous waves in Table Bay. Today, the location is known as Broken Bath Beach. See number 7 below.
Graaf's pool, the furthest north along the coastline, has a unique place in the story of the South African tidal pool for all the fuss it has caused. The pool was built in 1910 to accommodate the needs of a paralysed woman who lived in a mansion right behind the pool. It featured a tunnel for access under the beach road and a wall to shield the user from view.
After her, the mansion and the pool were owned by a politician named Graaff, after whom the pool was named, and who later bequeathed the pool to the City of Cape Town.
It soon became a popular hangout spot for gay men, who congregated behind the wall and swam in the nude. After a number of years, some of the locals objected to this practice, and the wall was demolished in 2005. The pool is now mostly abandoned.
Below is an aerial view of the site.
Read more about Graaf's Pool →
Located a short distance west of the Graaff pool, the Milton Road tidal pool is a family favourite. The tidal pool was constructed in 1910 and appears largely unchanged. In his 1982 paper 'Design of Coastal Structures for Recreational Purposes', engineer G H O'Connell, tests wall heights at 200mm intervals before reaching the perfect measurement. Adhering to this sort of model, Milton's Pool uses man-made walls to retain water and a manually operated valve (or plug) to drain the pool at spring low tides. Unfortunately, the unique rock formations dissipate wave energy unusually fast, and waves seldom break into the pool. Consequently, the warm water is swamped with algae and, due to poor management, is seldom emptied.
One of the earliest tidal pools built along the Sea Point coast was located here, in what is now known as Broken Bath Beach. It housed the first bathing pools in Sea Point in the late 18th century, which were eventually destroyed by storms, giving the beach its name.
The jewel in the crown of Cape Town's tidal pools is undoubtedly the Sea Point Pavilion.
Read more about the Pavilion here.
While some tidal pools heat up in the summer sunshine, Saunders tends always to be chilly - expect "bracing" temperatures between 10°C and 15°C.
There are two main pools set among large granite boulders that protect from strong waves.
The primary catalyst for the development of tidal pools in Camps Bay was the introduction of the Camps Bay Tramway in 1901. While early versions of pools existed from the tramway era, the Camps Bay Tidal Pool in its modern form is often cited as being constructed around 1938. The town also enjoyed an indoor swimming pool, which was heated from the excess energy released by the tramway.
The Soetwater Resort in Kommetjie is a popular coastal getaway run by the City of Cape Town, located on a narrow strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Slangkop Lighthouse
