De Waal Park is a public park and heritage site in the Oranjezicht suburb of Cape Town. The park, which contains over 120 species of trees, is popular with dog walkers. The park is roughly rectangular. Molteno Dam borders the park to the south, with the other three sides bordered by roads. There are four tennis courts belonging to the Gardens Tennis Club in the South West corner. In summer, the park hosts free outdoor concerts on Sunday afternoons.

History

De Waal Park was Cape Town's first and largest public park, after the

Company's Gardens The Company's Garden is the oldest garden in South Africa, a park and heritage site located in central Cape Town. The garden was originally created in the 1650s by the region's first European settlers and provided fertile ground to grow fresh ...

, when it was opened in 1895. De Waal Park Entrance 1900 vs 2015

In 1877 the

City Council of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The rem ...

purchased land from the Van Breda family who owned the farm Oranjezigt. They divided the land into three parts, first building the two smaller reservoirs below Camp Street and then building the

Molteno Reservoir Molteno Dam is a small but historic dam, on the lower slopes of Table Mountain in Western Cape, South Africa. Still in service, it was established in 1877 and is now located in the suburb of Oranjezicht, Cape Town. Background and constructi ...

below Belvedere Road which also provided the city with electricity. The land in between formed a natural park.

David Christiaan de Waal David Christiaan de Waal (25 November 1845 – 22 September 1909) was a Cape politician, businessman and Mayor of Cape Town. Early life and career De Waal was the twelfth child of Pieter de Waal, a farmer of Langverwacht, near Kuils River, and h ...

, who was the city councillor at the time and also a member of the Legislative Council of the Cape Colony, decided to develop the park. At his instigation thousands of trees were planted in Cape Town and especially in the park. As Mayor of Cape Town, 1889–1890, he developed the park further and it was opened to the public officially in 1895. At one stage it was called Jubilee Park but it soon reverted to the name it bears today. Two gates with brick piers and wrought-iron arches in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style at the lower corners and a wall along Camp Street were built in 1899 and the wall was extended up Upper Orange Street in 1900. Molteno Road was extended down to meet Camp Street at about this time and it was decided to fence off the park on that side by planting a hedge of Kei apple. The bandstand was built in 1904/5 for the Cape Town Exhibition which was held in Green Point and moved to the park after the exhibition was over. It was used for public performances for some years. The Victorian fountain in De Waal Park is a natural

artesian well An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

and feeds the Lower Reservoir No. 2 in Oranjezicht. On 22 March 1968 the park was proclaimed a National Monument to be maintained in perpetuity as public gardens and it is now listed as a Provincial Heritage Site.

Gallery

File:De Waal Park with toilet building.jpg, North East Corner File:De Waal Park circa 1898.jpg, ''De Waal Park'' ca. 1898 File:De Waal Park Walkway with Fountain.jpg, Center of the park 2015 File:De Waal Park circa 1880.jpg, Bandstand and Signal Hill ca. 1905 File:De Waal Park Bandstand.JPG, The Edwardian bandstand in 2012 File:De_Waal_Park.JPG, North West Gate

References

{{Cape Town, natural Parks in Cape Town South African heritage sites Art Nouveau architecture in South Africa