Uniondale Things to Do

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No less than five forts were constructed around Uniondale by the British army and the local Town Guards to protect the valley from attack by the Boer Commandos. Despite this substantial defence effort, a Boer leader managed to capture the local magistrate, postman and jailer. He locked them up in the jail, and threw the keys into the bush outside town. It took the embarrased townspeople and clerks three days to get the town?s notables out of their humble temporary residence. Shortly afterwards, the cheeky, but brave, Boer was captured and summarily executed above the Uniondalepoort, where a stone monument was later erected.
The fort itself, built in 1899, is very small: just a small, but substantial, stone wall forming a circle, with lookout holes in the upper part, and a dirt floor. It must have been an unpleasant and lonely task being posted up to the fort from the town for the soldiers on duty.

Parallel to, but up the slope from, Voortrekker Street is Hope Street, where the new red stone Dutch Reformed Church sits, makes another pleasant walk through history, with its simple but elegant houses sitting against the edge of the bush. The road to the side of the church leads up past the cemetery to the Boer War fort on a small peak just above the town.

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Below the main road through Unondale, and running parallel to it, is Victoria Street, a quiet stretch of road with Uniondale's finest houses. The adjacent Numbers 26 and 28, both single storey, unadorned and simple, have been declared National Monuments: Number 26 was where P.C. Schoonees, the Africans lexicographer, was born. Further along is the late Victorian residency, at Number 6, with its stable.
Wandering down this wide dusty street, partially shaded by a variety of huge trees reveals a number of beautifully-kept houses, with even more beautiful gardens. This isn't Montagu, Stellenbosch or Wynberg - but then that's all the more reason to wander there - just local people, local architecture, the bright light, the colours of the gardens, and the sound of your footsteps.