Williston Anglo-Boer War Blockhouse - Northern Cape

During the Anglo-Boer War the British troops built a line of blockhouses from Victoria West to Lamberts Bay which was known as the cross-country line. The line stretched a span of almost 6000 kilometres with a blockhouse every 400 metres. This was quite an undertaking and cost the British over one million Pound Stirling in the early 1900s. The line was built dividing the North-West into two, in order to hinder the movement of the Boers. The blockhouse in Williston was originally built in April 1902. Sponsored by The Williston Tourism Association the restoration of the blockhouse was carried out by Mr John Swart, and this in turn led to the revival of the old folk art of building stone structures with local stones.

This particular blockhouse was known as a pepper-pot and was built in a circular formation. There were two circular walls, the inner had a diameter of 5 metres and a wall thickness of 70cm. The outer circle had a diameter of about 12m and the walls were approximately 60cm thick. The roof was more than likely made of corrugated steel, although canvas and round pitched tents were also sometimes used. The outer walls were fenced in with wire and steel strips were fastened into the ground with wires on them. The soldiers used to hand metal objest on these wires in order to hear if the wire was cut or tampered with. The wires were also connected between two blockhouses with tripwires being connected to rifles which pointed down the wire.

The soldiers also sometimes kept dogs in the blockhouses to alarm them of enemy intruders. These blockhouses performed their duty well in terms of protecting the four to six soldiers stationed in them from enemy gunfire but were not ideal for aerial attacks such as pom-poms.

The Williston Anglo-Boer War Blockhouse is a well restored example of one of the many blockhouses that were built during the founding years of South Africa and is worth the visit for the whole family.