By Denis Conolly copyright 1992

Historically the Parade is older than the Castle; it was in use as the parade-ground before the construction of the Castle was completed and takes its place among our important national monuments. In the seventeenth century it stretched from the Heerengracht (now Adderley Street) and Keisersgracht (now Darling Street) to the Table Bay shoreline. During the eighteenth century it became a green pasture; several streams crossing it on the way to the sea from the mountain, it was further beautified by the oak trees that surrounded it. Building encroachment halved its original size during the nineteenth century but it is nevertheless still Cape Town's largest open area, providing parking space for hundreds of motor cars and being transformed into a colourful spectical twice a week when a great variety of merchandise is bargained for in an open-air market.
Facing seaward across Darling Street and the Grand Parade is the City Hall; built of sandstone and completed in 1905, it confronts a statue on the Parade of Edward VII of Great Britain in coronation robes and symbolises the Imperial grandiosity of the era. Despite the impracticability of its interior design it contains a large hall notable for its fine acoustic quality and has for a long time been the venue for concerts.

Church Square - the Slave Lodge and the Groote Kerk
It could be said that Cape Town was developed around four public squares of which Church Square is the oldest; the other three are Greenmarket, Riebeeck and Stal.
Ironically, Church Square first served as the site of the slave markets and the second building to be constructed in South Africa (after the Castle) was the Companies slave lodge on the south side of the square; this was in 1679. Tradition has it that the slaves were actually sold under a huge pine tree, the situation of which is marked by an inscribed pavement stone on the nereby traffic island of Spin Street.
The lodge was large enough to house some 500 to 600 of the Company's slaves and remained in use as a slave lodge for 130 years. During its long history the building has undergone considerable constructional and functional changes. The most important alterations were carried out in 1810 after the Earl of Caledon ordered that the slaves be sold and the building be converted into government offices. The famous triumvirate, Thibault the architect, Anreith the sculpor and Schutte the builder, produced the dignified building that stands at the top of Adderley Street known today as the Old Supreme Court. Upon completion it housed a number of public services including the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General, the Post Office, the Receiver of Revenue, the Fiscal and the Bank. An enlarged courtroom was added in 1815. The Royal Arms relief by Anreith is in the Parliament Street pediment.
Starting in 1834 the Legislative Council (the precursor of Parliament) under Sir Benjamin d'Urban, sat in the 'record room' of the Supreme Court. The meetings continued here until 1853 when the venue was transferred to the Masonic Banqueting Hall on Stal Plein. Thibault's facade which faces onto Adderley Street was moved back some twenty feet in 1926 to allow for road widening and on this pavement there is a statue of Jan Christian Smuts. The street between the Old Supreme Court and The Groote Kerk is Bureau Street - a significant reference to the onetime government offices. The Old Supreme Court is now the South African Museum of Cultural History. The Tombstones of Jan van Riebeeck and his wife Maria de la Quellerie, retrieved from their 17th century places of burial, Batavia and Malacca respecively, are to be seen on a wall of the courtyard.

The Groote Kerk, the second building on the left at the top of Adderley Street, was the first church building to be built in southern Africa. Opened on 6 January 1704,it faced the western side of the open area of slave trafficking that later took the name, Church Square. The steeple, vestry and vaults of the original Groote Kerk were retained in the rebuilding which was completed in 1841 under the supervision of architect and builder Herman Schutte. The design is typical of the great renaissance of building at the Cape at the start of the nineteenth century and contains a mixture of Gothic and Classical styles with a bold and vigorous facade. The famous carved pulpit of Anton Anreith dates from 1779. The vaults of the church contain the remains of six governors of the Dutch East India Company, including thos of Simon van der Stel and Ryk Tulbagh. A statue of the Rev. Dr Andrew Murray, a most distinguished divine of the Dutch Reformed Church in the 19th century, is at the Adderley Street entrance.

Church Square, the Old Supreme Court and the Groote Kerk are national monuments. In the centre of the Square is the statue by Anton van Wouw of the Rt. Hon. J.H. Hofmeyr (1845-1909) a great South African and affectionately known as 'Onze Jan'.

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