De Waal Park: Cape Town's first large public park

De Waal Park is a public park and heritage site in the Oranjezicht suburb of Cape Town. The park contains over 120 species of trees and is popular with dog walkers. It is roughly rectangular, bordered by Molteno Dam to the south and roads on the other three sides. In the south-west corner are four tennis courts belonging to the Gardens Tennis Club. In the summer, the park hosts free outdoor concerts on Sunday afternoons.

In 1877, the City Council of Cape Town purchased land from the Van Breda family who owned the farm Oranjezigt. They divided the land into three parts, first building the two smaller reservoirs below Camp Street and then building the Molteno Reservoir below Belvedere Road which also provided the city with electricity. The land in between formed a natural park. David Christiaan de Waal, who was the city councillor at the time, decided to develop the park.

At his instigation, thousands of trees were planted in Cape Town and especially in the park. He developed the park further as Mayor from 1889-1890, and it was officially opened to the public in 1895. A wall along Camp Street was built in 1899 and extended up Upper Orange Street in 1900. Molteno Road was extended down to meet Camp Street at about this time, and it was decided to fence off the park on that side by planting a hedge of Kei apple.

The bandstand in De Waal Park was built in 1904/5 for the Cape Town Exhibition held in Green Point and moved to the park after the exhibition was over. It was used for public performances for some years. The Victorian fountain in De Waal Park is a natural artesian well that feeds the Lower Reservoir No. 2 in Oranjezicht. On 22 March 1968, the park was proclaimed a National Monument to be maintained in perpetuity as public gardens and it is now listed as a Provincial Heritage Site.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons