Vergelegen, Somerset West, South Africa

The octagonal Garden

Vergelegen was a farm granted to the governor Willlem Adrian van der Stel in 1700.  Situated in the Hottentots Holland it lay far from the reaches of the settlement of Cape Town as its name suggests, meaning ‘situated far away’.  The original grant was for 342.4 ha, which was later extended to 524.7ha, ten times the size of most farms granted at the time.

View of Vergelegen from Willem van der Stel's 'Korte Deductie, 1708, showing the Homestead from the west.

Within four years Willem van der Stel had transformed Vergelegen into a model country estate with extensive plantations and buildings laid out in a baroque style, reflecting the renaissance influence of wealthy estates and palaces in Europe, with their symmetrical plans and ornate gardens.  Vergelegen was laid out with a double-walled octagonal garden radiating avenues and four flanking out buildings – a slave lodge, watermill/stable, wine cellar and pigeon house.

View of Vergelegen from 'Contra Deductie, 1712, showing the Homestead from the east.

His grand vision was largely achieved with the resources and manpower of the Dutch East India Company for which Vergelegen was a former outpost, causing discontent amongst the other settlers (burghers).  Accusations of corruption finally led to Willem Adriaans dismissal.  Having been denied permission to remain at Vergelegen as an ordinary farmer, he reluctantly returned to the Netherlands in 1708.

The directors of the Dutch East India Company confiscated Vergelegen, a grant they had never been authorised and gave orders for the farm to be divided into four parts and sold.  It is doubtful whether the directors instructions to demolish the homestead were carried out as the present homestead was rebuilt on the same site and underwent further changes over the next three centuries.

Camphor trees of the Octagonal garden

Much of the existing buildings and garden elements of Vergelegen are a result of the restoration works carried from 1917 by Florance Philips, the wife of the mining magnate Sir Lionel Philips, who presented the estate to his wife as a gift.  Prior to this point Vergelegen had fallen into a state of disrepair and restoration works were to be inspired by a renewed interest in Cape Dutch architecture, particularly through the books of Dorothea Fairbridge, a friend of Lady Philips.

It was left to a young English architect Percy Walgate, to implement the ideas and he approached the task of enlarging the historic home with great sensitivity, designing the two new wings to be subsidiary to the main house.  The exterior was painted an ochre colour and the terrace (steop) was laid with red quarry tiles and Klompie bricks.

Oval pond in front of library

Before retiring to the cape, the Philipses had lived in a series of grand houses in Johannesburg and England, Lady Philip’s added colonial pieces of furniture to the homestead and a pair of bronze deer (copies of those at Herculaneum), the marble urns and Venetian well-head.

William Hanson, the Philipse’s former gardener at Tylney Hall in England, was brought to the Cape in 1921 to establish the gardens at Vergelegen.  The octagonal garden was reinstated within the inner walls of Van der Stel’s enclosure and was transformed into a beautiful English styled garden.

Existing features within the grounds of Vergelegen as illustrated on map.

1. Information Centre.

2. Wine Tasting Centre.

Courtyard Garden of former stable buildings

3. Interpretive Centre.

Exhibitions on display in the former stables provide insight into the history and developments of Vergelegen in narrative, illustrative and archeological form.

4. Almond and Oak Avenue.

The original chestnut avenues from Van der Stel’s time are being re-established.  The outer rows are formed by Spanish oaks (English oaks being to porous for the Cape climate, the middle rows by Turkish chestnuts and the inner rows by almond trees.

5. Octagonal Garden.

6. Homestead.  Click on the link below to learn about the Homestead’s rich history.

Homestead frontage

Homestead’s architectural history, interior and collections of furniture and paintings

7. Camphor Trees

The Big Five. Camphor trees (Cinnamomum camphora)

Guarding the entrance to the Homestead are five magnificent chinese camphor trees planted Van der Stel between 1700-1706.  They are officially the oldest living trees on the subcontinent and were declared a national monument in 1942.

8. Lady Philips Restaurant

9. White garden/Ancient Oak

A formal hedge garden has been created to enhance the restored north wing of the Homestead.  Using the two existing ponds as a starting point, the design reflects the period of the alterations done in the time of Lady Philips.Alongside the car park stands a hollow Oak tree, the oldest in Africa.

10. Royal Oak

King Alfred's Royal Oak

Here stands an Oak tree planted in 1928 from one of the last acorns of King Alfred’s Oak at Blenheim Palace.  In 1947, HRH King George VI gathered the acorns from this tree for planting in Windsor Great Park.  Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II assented to dedicate a plaque here when she visited Vergelegen in 1995.

11. Yellowwood Walk/Water Mill/Camellia Collection

12. Camellia Garden

The site of botanist Jan van Bergen extensive collection of rare Camellia’s, containing  over 300 species

13. Wetland Garden

Timber boardwalk through Wetland Garden

A woodland boardwalk leads trough groves of tree ferns, arum lilies, gunnera and azaleas.

14. Camphor Forest Picnic

15. Rose Garden

Formal rose garden containing 1000 rose bushes.

16. Rose Terrace

17. Library

Former Winery built-in 1816 converted into library

18. Margaret’s Roberts Herb and Vegetable Garden

Herb and Vegetable Garden

Opened in 1993, the garden supplies ingredients for the restaurants within the grounds.

Copy sourced from literature provided by Vergelegen, member of Anglo American plc.

To view more images of Vergelegen press the link below.

Vergelegan images

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