The Old Provost is a military prison finished in early 1838 as part of efforts to fortify the small city of

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. These efforts were part of the Governor of the Cape Colony's, Sir

Benjamin d'Urban Lieutenant General Sir Benjamin D'Urban (16 February 1777 – 25 May 1849) was a British general and colonial administrator, who is best known for his frontier policy when he was the Governor in the Cape Colony (now in South Africa). Early ...

, 1835 defensive plan which includes the building of

Fort Selwyn A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and the fortification of the Drostdy. It is situated on Lucas Avenue between the Old Military Hospital, which is now part of the

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

Botany Department, and the

Grahamstown Botanical Gardens The Makana Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden in South Africa operated by Rhodes University, located in Grahamstown. The garden is on Gunfire Hill and is surrounded by the 1820 Settlers National Monument, Fort Selwyn, the Albany Museum, and ...

. Built to a design adapted from

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...

Panopticon The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be o ...

prison. This design is unique in the

British Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with th ...

. Designed to allow for constant surveillance of the prisoners. The prison is shaped as a quarter circle with eight cells, roughly 2m by 3m each, running along the curved arc of wall with the exercise area's for each cell radiating out from the double story watch tower, which has portals looking into each exercise area. In 1937 the Old Provost was declared a

heritage site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...

. In 1982 and 1983 the Old Provost underwent restoration and was put under control of the

Albany Museum The Albany Museum, South Africa is situated in Grahamstown in South Africa, is affiliated to Rhodes University and dates back to 1855,Chinsamy, Anusuya. (1997). "Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa." ''Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs''. Edited by ...

. During the restoration the remains of some of the exercise area walls were discovered and restored.

Present

The Old Provost has been renovated and operates as The Provost Café as of the 8th of April 2013. As of March 2020, The Provost Café is closed, and LA Café is now housed in the building

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Makhanda, Eastern Cape Prisons in South Africa Buildings and structures completed in 1838 19th-century architecture in South Africa