Page 93 - Bulletin 19 2015

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Peter Spargo, a member at the time of the Cape Peninsula Spelaeological Society, explored

all three mines shafts. In only the west adit did he find evidence of the use of explosives on
the internal rock faces of the shafts, and these explosives appeared to have been used well

after the original excavations had taken place. He is certain that only picks and shovels were
used to excavate the old shafts.

Why, then, would the ruins have been named Die Kruithuis?

Evidence of Dutch military interest in the Silvermine Valley is to be found in Die Grote

Atlas, a compilation of DEIC maps and drawings. Two of the maps are of particular interest
(Figs. 2.22 & 2.23.) In 1795 British troops had taken over control of the Cape after landing at

Simon’s Town and defeating the DEIC forces at the Battle of Muizenberg. In 1803, control of
the Cape had been handed back by the British, this time to the Dutch Government in the form

of the Batavian Republic. General Janssens was in charge of the military at the Cape in 1805,
and by then it had become clear that the British were threatening to take over the Cape for a

second time. In order to plan the military defence of the South Peninsula, should the British

again land at Simon’s Town, General Janssens inked in a number of possible army positions
for defence of the passages up the Silvermine Valley northwards over the Steenberg. It is not

known whether any defensive positions were built. One of the defence structures that may
have been built was Die Kruithuis, which would have been well located as a dry powder store

for a number of the planned cannon sites on the map. Today one of these positions is
occupied by the Clovelly Country Club and in front of the clubhouse is a pair of cannons

dating from the early 1800s. In reality, these defences would have proved of little value, as

the British landed at Melkbosstrand, north of Cape Town, during the Second Occupation of
the Cape in 1806.

The part of Die Kruithuis that was used later as a farmhouse may have been built originally
as a guardhouse for the powder store. These ruins certainly warrant an archaeological

investigation to determine their original purpose. An interesting aside is the caption to a
photograph found in the October 1917 edition of Motoring in South Africa showing a car that

has driven up the Silvermine Valley. The car, a Buick, is parked in front of Die Kruithuis ruin
and the caption reads ‘The Farmhouse is said to have been a Powder Magazine during the

occupation of the Valley as a Military Encampment for Dutch troops. Quite where the editor