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| Pride of De Kaap (Bauhinia galpinii) flowering on the the Bell Tower Gate in late summer, 2012. Photo: Alice Notten. |
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In 1936 Rhodes Drive was widened and the main entrance to
Kirstenbosch was moved from what is now the Visitors Centre entrance to a new position.
This Gate was constructed in 1937-38, and a Bell Tower “of rough mountain stone
masonry”*(designed by
Robert Gwelo Goodman )
was built to commemorate the contribution of Sir Lionel Phillips to the
founding and early years of Kirstenbosch. It houses an old ship’s bell that
comes from HMS
Dominion, one of King Edward VII of England’s battleships that
was attached to Third Battle Squadron during the First World War and was scrapped
in 1924. The bell was given to Sir Lionel Phillips by a friend who had been a gunnery
officer aboard the
Dominion. It had hung (and rung) for many years in the
grounds of Vergelegen and was donated to Kirstenbosch, along with funds to
build a bell tower, by Lady Phillips in 1938. The bell is rung on weekdays to
mark the Garden’s working hours.
In 1913, Sir Lionel Phillips initiated the legislation that
led to the establishment of Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden. He became Vice-President
of the Botanical Society and both he and his wife served on the BotSoc Council.
More about the calendar:
click here.
More about the bell tower in an article in the June 1995 edition of
Veld & Flora by CB Tucker,
click here.
* The Journal of the Botanical Society of South Africa vol 23,
p.3, 1937.
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| The Bell Tower Gate in 1939. Photo: Kirstenbosch Archives. |
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| The Bell Tower in 1938/1939. Photo: Kirstenbosch Archives. |
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