Die Vishuis
At the turn of the nineteenth century, the only buildings in Yzerfontein were a farmstead and a small thatched cottage, known as the ‘Vishuis.’  So the Vishuis is the oldest building in Yzerfontein. It was built from local gravel and limestone. The current municipal boardroom in The Vishuis used to be a storeroom for fish and salt.
When the Dutch arrived they needed building materials. They built lime kilns to burn mussels to form a binding material which was used as cement. The kilns were built above ground level, with lime stones that did not crack when heated. Inside was a fine grid on which they placed layers of mussel shells and wood.
The heat of the fire turned the shells into fine ash, which then fell through the grid. The ash was then mixed with water and placed in an enclosure to dry. Here it became a type of lime to be used as a binding material. The Castle in Cape Town and many farmhouses on the West Coast were built using it. Salt was added to the lime and this was widely used to whitewash the walls of the buildings.
Vishuis was the property of Matthys Schreuder, who was also the owner of the ‘Langhuisie’ holiday home.
The Langhuisie is the setting for a ghost story. A man who lost his head. The story tells of a widower by the name of Rozen who used to visit Mrs Schreuder when her husband was away. He formulated a plan to murder him. One of Mrs Shreuder’s daughters overheard the plan being discussed and told her father, who changed his will in her favour.
One day Schreuder went out fishing with a friend. Screuder disappeared. His friend’s body was washed up with bruises on his neck pointing at murder by strangulation. Rosen told Mrs. Schreuder he’d killed her husband but she didn’t believe him. He returned to the body, cut off the head, and brought it back to show her. It is not known what happened to the head, some say it was disposed of in the outside toilet and others say it was burned in the lime kiln. Langhuisie is said to be haunted by the ghost of the man who lost his head.
50 Main Rd, Yzerfontein,
