Tunnels Bunkers and Dungeons of the Cape

1663 Cape Town’s Canals

The early streets ran parallel and at right angles to the streams that flowed from the mountain to the sea. Later, these streams were formalized and directed into ‘grachte’
For example the Heerengracht (today Adderley Street), was the first principal street of the settlement, following the course of the Fresh River to the fort. It was threaded by a double streamlet, with tiny bridges crossing at intervals. It ran through the town centre and continued the axis of the Company’s Garden linked by way of an old gateway, was lined with stoeped townhouses of the burghers and at its foot was the wooden jetty. By 1767 the street had been widened into a fashionable promenade. It was described by a traveller in 1778 as “the most beautiful street or canal, bordered with oaks, along which are built the finest houses.”
The ‘grachte’ had become the dumping place for the town’s rubbish. Thus, a systematic programme of arching over and enclosing the canals was initiated in 1838, directly changing the character of old Cape Town. At first a number of bridges were built over the canals and some canals paved.
Eventually the majority of the grachte had been replaced by brick sewers. By the end of the 1850s, the last stretch of the Heerengracht had been covered and the street, renamed Adderley Street. When the Bubonic Plague broke out in Cape Town in 1901, the last of the open water courses was closed, in District Six.

Comment: Moderate Historical walking Tour not suitable for all. Operating on sunny days when no cloud cover and water levels are low. Maximum 8 participants.