Page 100 - Bulletin 14 2010

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“The road from Simon’s Town to Muizenberg runs along the shore of the Bay, following
all the indentations made by smaller bays, and in many places [is] nothing more than fine loose
white sand in which horses feet and carriage wheels sink deep; but beyond Muizenberg it is very
good ……….

The milestones, however, do not deserve equal commendation. They are of a sort of blue
slate, whereon the distances are engraved in large roman capitals, scarcely legible, as the letters
are not filled up or painted with any colour different from that of the general surface; and the
obscurity is rendered still greater from the position of the stones which are generally at a
considerable distance from the road side. This is somewhat vexatious and, as you approach “the
Capital of Southern Africa” and become naturally anxious to know when you may hope to
escape from a deluge of hot shining sand, in vain do you look to the milestones for information.
They have become ashamed of their ugly blue, and have clothed themselves in a mantle of white
– Satin? – no, but of white printed paper, announcing to the half-blinded traveller the very
interesting intelligence, that, on a certain day, at an hour which is fixed, “will be sold by public
auction, etc, etc.””

Quarterly Bulletin of the SA Library, 1976-77: 58-9.

No traveller’s description of a milestone on the hard road to Bellville has come to light, but there

are sufficient stones still in existence for the differences and similarities between each set to be

compared. Both sets were cut from Malmesbury slate – a very hard local metamorphic rock – are
tombstone-shaped with mitred tops, with the distance marked in Roman numerals, and were sited

so that they faced the road. But they differ in size and mass, as well as the details of the
inscriptions on their faces. The dimensions of the Main Road milestones have been taken from

the eight that survive, and of the Maitland Road ones from three of the five that survive. Their
characteristics are summarized in Table 3.1.

It is unclear whether slate milestones were erected all the way to Simon’s Town, or only as far as
Kalk Bay. Photographic evidence shows that they stood at least as far as Kalk Bay, (milestone

XVII) but no evidence has been found to show that they were installed farther south. Table 3.1

also includes details of a probable third set that were erected later on south of Kalk Bay – based
on extant milestone XIX standing at Sunnycove.