Wagenaar’s Reservoir
When Van Riebeek arrived at the Cape, he had a dam built, but this did not satisfy the needs of the settlers and the passing ships. In 1663. The Here XVII, or Board of Directors of the Dutch East India Company, instructed Zacharias Wagenaer, the only German Governor of the Company, Commander of the Cape settlement from 1662 to 1666, to build a reservoir to improve the water supply. The reservoir was known as Wagenaar’s Reservoir.
Employees of the Dutch East India Company, including soldiers, artisans, and slaves, carried out the construction. Excavation involved cutting into the bedrock. Stone walls and sluices were built to regulate water flow.
The dam was supplied by the Fresh River. It was rectangular, measuring approximately 45 m long, 15 m wide, and about 1.5 m deep.
Slaves would roll oak barrels to the reservoir, have them filled, and then return to the docks, where they would be hooked to a crane and lowered onto small rowing boats. The water barrels were rowed out to the ships. The system was extended in 1671 under the supervision of Wouter Mostert, a senior VOC official. A canal was constructed from the dam to the wharf, allowing barrels to be filled closer to the shoreline.
During the construction of “The Golden Acre” shopping Mall in 1975, ruins of Wagenaar’s reservoir and canals were unearthed. They have been declared as a national monument. Some of the ruins can be seen at the Golden Acre and are protected behind a glass window. The remainder of the structure lies buried beneath the surrounding development.
9 Adderley Street, Foreshore
See also Castle of Good Hope
