Green Point Lighthouse

Not for nothing is the tip of Africa called the Cape of Storms and the the Lighthouses at Cape Point and Green Point serve an essential service to ships at sea in the sometimes furious storms steaming in from the South Atlantic.

The Green Point Lighthouse, the first solidly constructed lighthouse on the South African coast came to be built on the mandate of Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, Acting Governor of the Cape between 1820 and 1821.  On his return,  the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, unhappy at not being consulted, halted the project. The bureaucratic processes of approval from London ran their course, eventually allowing the German immigrant designer and builder Herman Schutte to get on with the job with providing shipping entering Table Bay with a necessary storm and night time beacon.

The construction was completed in 1823 at a cost of 6,420 pounds sterling and the Lighthouse was commissioned the following year, functioning without break for the last 185 years. The original illumination was provided by two lanterns using  a single wick Argand lamp which burned sperm whale oil and was visible for 6 nautical miles. This was improved in 1922 with the current 3rd order optic system, comprising three equally spaced dioptric panels which are mounted on a table floating in a mercury bath, using a 400 watt metal halide lamp, generating a 850,000 Candelas beam, visible for 25 nautical miles.
Though serving a lifesaving service, the fog horn has not always been a popular asset with local Green Point residents and at times the Lighthouse Keeper was often threatened with injury by sleepless neighbours!

The Lighthouse was home to many Lightkeepers and their families over the decades and served as the training centre for the trade of Lightkeeping. In the early 1950's accommodation was moved to  flats in Portswood Road and in 1990 the Lighthouse became a one-man station.

Some of the vessels which succumbed to wild storms in the area are The RMS Athens, wrecked in 1865; in the same spot lies the Piscataqua, her engine block still visible beyond the surf line. The SS George M. Livanos burnt out opposite the Lighthouse in 1947 and finally the SA Seafarer ran aground almost directly in front of the Lighthouse on the night of Ist July 1966. In fact the rotating lens was stopped and focused on the wreck to assist in the rescue of the crew.

The Lighthouse currently serves as the Head Office of the Lighthouse Services Business Unit and is open daily from 8.30 am to  3.30 pm for tourist visits with a closure between 1.00 and 1.30 for lunch.

Information courtesy of  the Lighthouse Services Business Unit which also  offers  tours to a number of operating Lighthouses.
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel: 021-449 5171.

Green Point Common

The Green Point Common is one of the few areas of Cape Town which, like Rondebosch Common, has remained largely undeveloped for centuries. The Green Point Common has maintained its original function as public open space with fields for sport and recreation.

The seasonal flow of water running down Signal Hill pooled into large areas of vleis or wetlands which provided drinking water for livestock grazing on the Common, beginning with the new Dutch settlers, the era of Van Riebeeck.  Indeed it was from here that cattle were stolen by the indigenous Strandlopers, leading to conflict with the Dutch.

The most noteworthy building in the area was and still is the Lighthouse, the first beingGreen Point lighthouse constructed in 1824 and listed in the Atlas Maritinus, one of the earliest sea atlases, as the first on the Southern African coast. Later the Somerset Hospital was built in 1862 and the Race Track Stand, which served the horse racing public, and remains today near the traffic circle, now being used as a restaurant.

Along with the backdrop of Signal Hill, so called because it was from here that  flags  were used to signal the arrival of different classes of shipping arriving in Table Bay, Lion's Head and Table Mountain form a  welcoming landmark for weary sailors.

The name Lion's Head  serves not only to describe the shape of the peak, Signal Hill forming the rump, but also in the early days lions did roam the area, accounting for the death of at least one sailor.
Death became a part of the Common in the form of the Gallows, where public hangings took place. All that remains is the name Gallows Hill, now hosting the City of Cape Town Traffic Department.

Although many prominent Cape Town businessmen built large villas on the beach front and on the  slopes of Signal Hill, the Common stayed as a meeting place for the sporting clubs of cyclists, rugby players and cricketers.The Green Point Track was built in 1897 to cater for the sport of cycling and later tennis courts, bowling greens and rugby fields were laid out.

In the early days horse or donkey carts were the popular mode of transport from the City to Green and Sea Point but in 1892 a Railway line was built to serve the growing population, departing from the Docks and travelling along the coast to Sea Point. With the advent of the motor car and bus services, the Railway line lost popularity and closed down.

During the Boer War the Common served as a military camp for the British, who also established the first African Turf Club. The  race meetings became a focal point for Cape Town fashion, once attended by Lady Anne Barnard in a coach drawn by eight Spanish stallions. Today the focus has shifted to the annual Metropolitan, held at the Kenilworth Race Course.

Not much changed through the 20th century, the original Track remaining to be used for sports events and the annual Coon Carnival who would march and dance in their brilliantly coloured satin costumes from the Bo-Kaap along Somerset Road to the tune of banjos, trumpets and drums. A new stadium was built to cater for the local soccer clubs and track and field events, but has since been demolished to make way for redevelopment of the entire Common for the 2010 Soccer World Cup competition.

With the 2010 World Soccer event looming, the Common is a bustling construction site and the new 68,000 seater stadium is transforming the aspect of the Common, from an occasionally used facility to a sports precinct with an 9 hole golf course, rejuvenated soccer, cricket and rugby fields, tennis courts and  public open space where one will still be able to walk and relax just 10 minutes away from the City centre.