Durban — For Valentine’s week, we feature gates that open up to the romantic, charming and very popular venue for weddings – the Old Fort Chapel.
The lush grounds provide many scenic spots for photographs capturing the special day, and many couples return for their children to christened.
The chapel lies within Durban’s Old Fort off KE Masinga Road (Old Fort Road). It has a storied history in the city’s life, beginning as a pitched camp set up in May 1842 by Captain Thomas Smith and 260 men to keep Port Natal from falling to Dutch forces. The two sides clashed, and a Dutch commando surrounded their camp.
Dick King and 16-year-old Ndongeni KaXoki stole out of the camp at night and set off on what has since become regarded as an epic journey overland to Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. The siege was raised on June 24 by British reinforcements, and a contingent of their troops were permanently stationed in Durban.
In 1858 all existing structures in the Fort were demolished and replaced by more substantial buildings, which form the basis of the present complex. It remained occupied by imperial troops until 1885 when the Colony of Natal took it over.
It was handed over to the Durban Light Infantry, its magazine was converted into a chapel and the inner courtyard was made into a garden.
The military cemetery, where the tombs of men who lost their lives during the siege of 1842 are located, forms part of this complex. It was declared a National Monument in April 1936. (sahistory.org.za)
Photographer Shelley Kjonstad took the new pictures this week, showing that some of the metal plaques are missing from the gate – once made of wood but now metal – to the chapel.
The ceramic tiles still stand as tribute to the first soldiers to set up camp there and King and Ndongeni’s marathon ride.
Another marks the handing over of the facility to the Historical Monuments Commission, the Durban City, and the Royal Durban Light Infantry Comrades Association.
Independent on Saturday