When we bought the property that we call
Towerwater, 32 years ago, it was a remnant of several subdivisions of the
original farm, Aan de Breede Rivier. The Towerwater portion was standing
fenceless as part of the previous larger property. The informal way in which the
property lived side by side with its new subdivisions, without formal fences to
demarcate the new boundaries, was not an uncommon practice in a small town.
Respect for a neighbour’s property meant
that one never crossed the invisible line of one’s own property borders.
Unfortunately, not everybody adheres to the unspoken rule of respecting
another’s property. We found that the uninhabited property had become a
shortcut from one property to another for a neighbouring property.
To stop several bad habits from being
perpetuated, we realised that we had to formalise the fence around the property
before we could start restoring the buildings. With a clear idea how, and to
which periods we would like to restore the buildings, the envisaged fencing
posed a bit of a challenge.
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| Historic House with example of picket fence at Genadendal mission complex |
With the property not adhering to the
formal street grid of the town and the buildings not really town houses, but
farm buildings, we had to look for inspiration a bit wider for an appropriate
fencing solution. It was important for us that the fences respected the
historical architecture and character of the buildings and region.
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| Historic house with an example of a picket fence at Elim |
We looked at historical vernacular town
complexes and individual buildings in the Overberg region and surrounds for
guidance and inspiration. Buildings and prevailing practices that might have
informed Philip Hendrik Morkel when he acquired the loan farm Aan De Breede
Rivier in the late 1700’s, and buildings erected in the early 1800’s.
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| Picket fence at Towerwater, and different examples of picket fences at Genadendal |
Wooden pickets in different forms, inserted
between piers, were a popular way of fencing off buildings and houses on farmsteads
and in towns. At the time we thought a very good example could be found in the buildings
at the Genadendal and Elim mission stations that were established in 1738 and
1824 respectively. The initiative of Moravian missionaries in the Overberg.
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| Different examples of picket fences used at historical Genadendal buildings |
Not only did we get an idea of the
different types of built piers with wooden picket fences that were used to
separate the private and public space, but we also found the use of pebbledash
plaster on contemporary buildings at these mission stations.
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| A historical building at Elim with pebbledash plaster and qouining |
The smooth plastered door and window
surrounds were complemented by smooth plastered quoining with the rest of the
walls plastered with pebbledash plaster. The same treatment featured on the
Towerwater main house. The pebbledash plaster however, added a new challenge to
the maintenance. Where plaster dropped from the walls, we had to scoop it into
buckets to ensure that we rescued all the small pebbles in the soft lime plaster.
This was to ensure that by reusing them when we repaired the plaster, we would
achieve a matching finish.
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| The use of pickets and quoining at Genadendal and at Towerwater |
We learned that a popular reason for using
pebbledash plaster on the historical buildings at the Cape was to fragment the
reflected light from the white limewashed walls that could be blinding in the
bright African sun.
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| Keith making pickets |
Fences serve both decorative and
utilitarian functions, securing boundaries, protecting planted areas, and
providing privacy. Inspired by the historical piers and picket fences of
Genadendal, we decided on the design for the piers and wooden picket fences
for Towerwater.
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| The pickets at different stages of painting |
Keith, with the help of a local man who had
some experience in building, first built the low walls and piers around the
property on three sides. The fourth side is bordered by the irrigation canal
running through the valley. Afterwards Keith proceeded to handsaw all the
pickets from wood we carted 190Km from Cape Town. These were assembled in
panels and painted historical green before mounting between the plastered piers.
The first set of wooden picket fences was made from treated PAR SA pine. Later,
we learnt that this wood did not last well in the local climate and all the
wooden fences were systematically remade with hardwood over time and when finances
permitted.
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| Keith assembling picket panels |
Hardwood has a longer lifespan. Keith used hundreds
of metres of wood to make the pickets and the bottom and top supporting beams
for each panel. He cut the tops for each picket after marking them out with a
template he had made for the purpose. Currently the fence around the property
consists of 47 piers, 34 picket panels consisting of 584 pickets, 2336 screws,
6 gates, and a mock front gate at the old front of the house. The design incorporating
wooden pickets was also used for the gates of the garden office and gas room.
Keith basically bought screws on an
industrial scale because fastening each picket required four screws and 12 for
mounting each panel. Keith would drill a pilot hole and a countersunk groove for
each screw before fastening the picket to the cross beam. Over the years, I
have bought electric drills at country auctions when the bids were very low,
and one can pick them up for less than one pays for a supermarket cake.
Now, when Keith assembles a picket panel,
he would have three electric drills ready with a different drill bit for each
step of the assembly line. Where I sat in my “home office” in the voorkamer, I
could hear the rhythmic drilling of pilot hole, countersunk and screw becoming
a symphony of assembled picket panels.
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| Another example of historical picket fences at Genadendal |
Making the picket fences is labour
intensive. If we had to pay somebody to do it, we might not be able to afford
it. Luckily, we are both creative and not afraid to attempt any project
requiring manual labour.
Finding inspiration from picket fences in
charming mission complexes and towns where they have survived, we were able to
create a period sympathetic fence for the Towerwater property, allowing the old
farm buildings to blend into the surrounding townscape in a harmonious way.
