The Breakwater Lodge in the

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront The Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront in Cape Town is situated on the Atlantic shore, Table Bay Harbour, the City of Cape Town and Table Mountain. Adrian van der Vyver designed the complex. Situated in South Africa's oldest working harbour, ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa was built as a prison in 1859. It is now part of the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

and a hotel. The original prison was built in 1859 for convicts from Britain at the suggestion of John Montagu who was the colonial secretary to the Cape of Good Hope from 1843 to 1852. They were transported to The Cape to work on the construction of the breakwater which would allow the harbour which is now the

to be built. The remains of a treadmill on which prisoners were punished can still be seen. During the later part of the 19th century other prisoners were accommodated at Breakwater prison and it was the first site to racially segregate black and white convicts. In 1902 white prisoners were moved into a new building, called the Industrial Breakwater Prison, which remains today. The design with four

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

turrets and an enclosed courtyard was styled after Millbank and

Pentonville Pentonville is an area on the northern fringe of Central London, in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient parish ...

prisons in England. After ten years as a prison it became a juvenile offenders institution and from 1926 until 1989 a hostel for black dock workers. Since 1991 it has served as the business school of

and hotel run by the Protea chain.

References

External links

History of Cape Town {{Prison-stub

See also

References

External links