The surprising history of Cape Town's parks

This popular Claremont park began as part of the original Stellenberg estate, acquired by Ralph Henry Arderne in 1845. He renamed the property ‘The Hill’ and, with his eldest son Matthew, set out to build a garden stocked with flora from around the world. Many of the specimens still growing here were sourced from Australian and New Zealand trader ships, exchanged for local plants.

After ‘The Hill’ was sold in 1914, a 4.5-hectare portion was registered in favour of the City of Cape Town in July 1928. In 1961, that section was re-imagined into what’s now Arderne Gardens. It’s a national monument, and some individual trees carry national protection,  including six officially recognised Champion Trees: a Moreton Bay fig (the largest in the Western Cape and one of the four largest in South Africa), a notably large Norfolk Island pine, a Turkish oak, a Queensland kauri, an Aleppo pine and a cork oak. On weekends the Gardens are also a popular spot for newly-weds to have wedding photos taken.

222 Main Road, Claremont

In 1877, Cape Town’s City Council divided land it had purchased from the Van Breda family into three sections, building two smaller reservoirs below Camp Street and the Molteno Reservoir below Belvedere Road. The natural land between them became the basis of this popular inner-city park.

From 1889 to 1890, councillor D.C. de Waal drove the park’s development, and his enthusiasm for trees didn’t stop at the boundaries. Thousands were planted here and across the city. De Waal Park opened to the public in 1895, briefly carried the name Jubilee Park, and then returned to the name it holds today.

The Camp Street gates and boundary wall were built in 1899, extended in 1900, and screened with a Kei apple hedge. A bandstand arrived in 1905 for the Cape Town Exhibition and is still used as the stage for the annual Summer Concerts series. In the 1950s, the park hosted the annual Theatrical Garden Party, a forerunner of today’s Community Chest Carnival in Maynardville. In March 1968, it was proclaimed a National Monument to be maintained in perpetuity as public gardens, and it’s now listed as a Provincial Heritage site.

Corner of Camp Street and Upper Orange Street, Gardens/Oranjezicht

Established in 1979, this rose garden began as an initiative of the Western Cape Rose Society, supported by Mr and Mrs Lindner and the Durbanville Municipality. Part of the site sits on land that once formed the Old Eversdal Estate, donated by the Schabort family, and the garden now encloses the Schabort family burial ground and memorial.

The first roses were planted in 1979, the trial garden followed in 1981, with the official opening taking place in 1983. Botanical highlights include 500 varietals and 4500 rose bushes, plus beds of medal winners, antique roses, hybrid teas, floribundas, climbers and shrubs. Don’t miss the gazebo featuring the ‘Fairest Cape’ rose.
33 Drakenstein Road, Durbanville

Khayelitsha Wetlands Park was established in 1998, following a study that identified viable land-use zones across the greater wetlands area. What was once a litter-strewn wetland has been rehabilitated into a landscape designed to be both environmentally friendly and visually appealing; a transformation that is a source of immense pride for the local community.

Hlanga Road, Khayelitsha

The land of modern-day Maynardville was originally administered by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and is named after financier James Maynard, who owned a house in the park from 1836. The original home, Maynard Villa, stayed in the family until the City of Cape Town acquired the land and house in 1954. After the villa was demolished, the site was turned into a public park.

Since 1956, the park has hosted an outdoor Shakespeare production every summer. The tradition began when actresses Cecelia Sonnenberg and Rene Ahrenson persuaded the City to create an outdoor stage and auditorium, launching with ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. Over time, those early ‘Shakespearean seasons’ grew into the well-known annual tradition of Shakespeare in the Park.

Corner of Church Street and Wolfe Street, Wynberg

In the 1970s, Capetonians used to gather here with radios to listen to the Springbok Radio serial ‘Die Geheim van Nantes’. It was so popular that the space became known as Nantes Park. In later decades it fell into disrepair, gaining a reputation for illegal activity and becoming a dumping site.

That story shifted in 2007, when the Athlone community and surrounding areas partnered with the City of Cape Town to begin rejuvenation work. The full restoration was completed in 2013, including a skate park, amphitheatre and picnic areas. Today, the park plays a central role in encouraging recreation, arts and culture in the community.

Appledene Road, Bridgetown, Athlone

While today it might be filled with office workers on their lunch break and curious tourists feeding the squirrels, the Company’s Garden began in 1652 as a practical food garden for the Dutch East India Company's refreshment station established under Jan van Riebeeck, a working patch intended to keep passing ships stocked with fresh produce. Over the centuries, as Cape Town expanded around it, the space shifted from food source to green space, and it remains one of the city’s most historic corners.

It’s also filled with landmark corners. There’s the oldest cultivated pear tree in South Africa, estimated to date back to 1652, alongside historic statues and a central sundial dated 1781. A well from 1842 still has a handpump set into an oak tree and linked by an underground pipe; a reminder of how vital Table Mountain’s water has always been to the city. A memorial ‘slave-bell’ (actually an old fire-alarm bell from Greenmarket Square’s original town hall) dates to 1855, while later layers include a 1929 rose garden, a 2014 vegetable garden, and the Delville Wood Memorial Garden designed in 1929 and realised in the 1930s.

Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town City Centre

At Woodstock’s Trafalgar Park, the remains of the Fredrick William Redoubt — also known as the French Redoubt — still stand. In 1781, the Dutch East India Company, concerned about an overland British attack, accepted help from a French garrison to build a defensive line made up of four forts and three redoubts. After the British occupation in 1795, the forts and redoubts were again used for defence, before falling into disuse. In 1827, instructions were issued to demolish the forts.

In 1968, the last remaining redoubt was proclaimed a National Monument. The site also includes a small 19th-century incinerator known as ‘The Destructor’. Little is recorded about it, but it’s believed to have been used to destroy undelivered mail and confidential official city documents.

Corner of Victoria Road and Searle Street, Woodstock

In the 1890s, the land for what was then called King Edward Park was secured through the combined efforts of Wynberg resident William Horne and Wynberg municipal councillor William Morom, who negotiated a grant for an extensive tract on Wynberg Hill. Once granted, it was landscaped with waterways, lawns, trees, shrubs and flower displays, with a large section deliberately left wild.

The park was formally opened in 1902 by the Honourable Thomas Graham. After the ceremony, the Guild of Loyal Women (formed during the South Africa War) planted commemorative trees, still visible today near the duck pond. Another lasting marker is a white marble fountain commemorating the coronation of King Edward VII. On weekends it’s a popular spot for children’s parties, and the braai areas in the upper section are hot property in summer!

Cnr Klaassens Road and Trovato Link Road, Wynberg