LOCATION: Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch
SPEAKER: The indefatigable Pat Kramer
The outing to Jonkershoek took place in perfect autumn sunshine weather. We started out at Jonkershoek farmhouse, which has undergone a number of changes over the years.Traces remain of the old garden layout and some of the outbuildings.
From there we walked on to Assegaaibosch which still retains much of its original fabric, and it beautifully set against the mountain backdrop.
Then it was on to look at the old Trout hatchery which dates back to the late nineteenth century, but has now been abandoned.
Lunch was back in Stellenbosch at the beautiful Botanical Gardens, as lush and as fascinating as ever.
Jonkershoek (formerly called Wynand)
The farm was granted in 1683 to Jan Andriessen. The H-shaped house –or part of it- was built by Pieter Gerhardt Neethling (the grandson of the Neethling who owned Grosvernor House in Stellenbosch) or the previous owner, Jacobus Johannes Albertyn.
The two sections were originally joined by a flat roof. According to Hans Fransen, the older house, probably the work of the Groenewalds who owned the farm I the 1770s, still remains and stands end-to-end with a long outbuilding. All the buildings stand in a long row. The gables were added by the Watermeyer family in 1877. Before that the buildings were half-hipped and thatched.
Assegaaibosch was granted in 1755 to Gerrit Coetzee who promptly sold it to Pieter Wium. It was bought by Lambert Hendrik Fick in about 1792.
He probably built the house in that year. The dormer gable is a replacement for the gable which was formerly there. Fick was a cousin of Antonie Fick who built the ‘Burgher House’ on the Braak in Stellenbosch.
The front has Georgian woodwork, with two eight-panelled doors with spoke-fans. We will also visit the historic trout hatchery across the road.