Freeland Lodge
The 6 Herschel Road property, known as Freeland Lodge,
has played a historical role for over a century in the social
and physical landscape of Cape Town . The 447 square meters
of property was officially registered under the colonial
government of Britain in 1892. The 1902 surveys of the region,
shows the current day buildings on the 6 Herschel Road property
were named Freeland Lodge. When the house was restored to
its original use it seemed fitting to restore the original
name as well.
Initially considered a retreat from the busy city in the
early 1900s, the buildings have been put to a multitude of
different uses including Observatory's first schoolhouse,
town hall, factory, church, karate dojo, private residence
and media studio. These changes in role and purpose have
served to add to the original character and shape of a century
ago.
Observatory
One of the original areas settled by the Dutch farmers in
the 1650s along the Liesbeeck River , early inhabitants include
Jan van Riebeeck, who was responsible for setting up the
trading station for the Dutch East India Company. Observatory
became more residential with the arrival of the English settlers
in the 1820s. In 1827 a portion of the Valkenberg farm was
sold for the establishment of the Royal Observatory, from
which the suburb derives its name. The Valkenberg Manor house
became a reformatory in the 1880s. By 1888 it was taken over
by the Cape Colonial government as a replacement for the
Robben Island lunatic asylum.
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