Projects
1. We annually sponsor heritage enrichment talks as part of our outings programme.
2. We made a donation to the Cape Institute for Architecture who put together a retrospective exhibition on the work and life of the late Gawie Fagan.
3. We made donations towards the publication of the two books, ‘Wheatfields & Windmills’ and ‘Behind the Castle’ by Jim Hislop.
4. We sponsored the guardhouse at Arderne Gardens.
5. We made a donation towards the publication of ‘Grave Encounters. Archaeology of the burial grounds, Green Point, South Africa’ by Malan, Halkett, Hart and Schietecatte.
6. We made a donation to the re-casting of the Rondebosch Fountain.
7. We sponsored information boards at Rhodes Memorial – these have been defaced and did not weather well. We are in negotiation with the Parks Board as to how, or whether, we replace them.
8. We sponsor one School Blue Plaque per year – a free plaque is given to a needy school.
9. We sponsored the restoration of the clock at Groote Kerk in Cape Town.
10. We make an annual donation to the Cape Town Heritage Foundation Cape Town branch to cover operating expenses & shared secretarial costs.
11. We sponsored the website for the Foundation.
12. We sponsor the continual maintenance of the van Reede van Oudthoorn vault
This branch has been responsible for the maintenance of the van Reede van Oudtshoorn vault for many years. It is the only remnant of the beautiful Saasveld complex. A reconstruction of Saasveld is now the Huguenot Memorial Museum, Franschhoek.
This property was called Oudtshoorn and belonged to Baron Pieter van Reede van Oudtshoorn (1743 – 1766). The land was split up but in 1791 his son, Willem Ferdinand van Reede van Oudsthoorn acquired a piece of his father’s old land and called it Saasveld. All that remains of the beautiful 1791 Louis Michel Thibault house is a monumental vault or tomb, hidden away in a dogleg cul-de-sac off Faure St, Gardens. This barrel vaulted tomb is fronted by an unusually high Neoclassical ‘gable’.
The tomb contains the remains of Baron William Ferdinand van Reede van Oudtshoorn (died 1822) and his two wives, Susanna van Schoor (died 1776) and Gezina Kirsten (died 1817).
When in 1977 it partly collapsed, no one accepted responsibility. It was suggested to get the tomb rebuilt at Franschhoek. The coffins were taken there and stored in a shed! Fortunately funds were raised and the structure was restored by this Foundation in 1986. It is not clear whether the coffins were returned to the vault.
We have maintained the vault ever since.
Reference: Fransen, H. The Old Buildings of the Cape. Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2004
