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Historic Cottages is a collection of buildings that formed part of a military headquarters commissioned for the British government and built by Piet Retief between 1820 and 1823. The group of buildings consisting of accommodation for six officers, 180 rand and file, 12 horses, a powder magazine and commissariat stores extended from High Street to New Street and was originally surrounded by a high stone wall, parts of which still stand today. Arched carriageways, on either end of what is now Scotts Avenue guarded the complex. Constructed of stone and mud mortar and pointed with lime mortar and with roofs of slate and floors of earth, many of the buildings were damaged in a great storm and the headquarters were moved to the site of the university. The buildings were sold by public auction and a large part of the structure was demolished to make way for new buildings. A number of isolated parts of the barracks remain. Besides sections of the flanking walls and out-buildings, parts of the original main block appear to be incorporated in the later buildings on the site. |
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1 Scotts Avenue
Grahamstown 6139
Eastern Cape
South Africa
   
Roswitha Hobson
email: Historic@imaginet
.co.za
Tel/Fax: +27 (0) 46 622 8936
Cell: +27 (0) 83 630 8696
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