The Development of East London, South Africa (RECORDING)

This is a recording of a talk called Life on the Buffalo River -the Development of East London, South Africa recorded on 20th February 2024.

This talk is part of the Online Winter Talk Series 2024 called Victorian and Edwardian Architecture in the Wider British World. Follow this link to book all of the talks.

Although the sun has long-since set on the British Empire, its architecture still casts a long shadow. For the 2024 Spring Lecture series the Victorian Society will be visiting Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Malaysia and New Zealand, with a number of the lectures coming from those countries themselves. A range of themes or positions will be discussed, for the architecture of the colonisers to the legacy they left behind to the manner in which the foreign architecture was adapted and adopted by the indigenous peoples who understood the nature of the climate and materials of their own countries.

Life on the Buffalo River - the development of East London, a noteworthy Victorian City in South Africa by William Martinson

The river port town of East London, on the eastern seaboard of South Africa, was born in conflict in 1848, and after a long period of penury, finally commenced with more substantial development in the 1870's. The talk will provide an overview of the history and development of the town and present some of the Victorian era architecture and structures.

In 1886 a navigational channel was established, allowing ships to enter the Buffalo river and it was then decided to construct a patent slipway. The sod turning was carried out by the Governor, Sir Henry Loch on 05 February 1890, but work only commenced in March 1896. The Victoria Slipway was officially opened by Sir Alfred Milner on 02 September 1897. The vertical slipway walls were constructed with hammer-dressed dolerite blocks and the cradle was constructed using timber. Used until 1960, the slipway is now threatened by harbour development proposals.

The Town Hall is the finest of the Victorian era buildings in East London. Sited on Waterloo Square on Oxford Street, it is excellent in its proportions, and was erected for £33,750. The foundation-stone was laid with Masonic honours on 20 February 1897 and the building was officially opened on 5 October 1899. Fortunately still substantially intact, it has recently been fenced off from the public domain.

A Temperley Transporter, an early example of an overhead crane, was erected in the East London harbour circa 1898 to facilitate the offloading of imported coal. An interesting machine, it was a product of the Temperley Transporter Company of London and was a good example of Victorian engineering. Adjacent to the Transporter was a ballast staithe to facilitate the loading of rock as ballast for the return journey. Both of these items no longer survive and only exist on contemporary plans and archived images.

The King's Warehouse, later Custom's House, was constructed on the East Bank of the river in 1904 to accommodate the Customs and Excise function required to manage the increasing trade into and out of the East London. A substantial clock tower punctuates the north facade, and the building was sited such that the tower was on axis with the centreline of Oxford Road on higher ground to the north.

Many other buildings were constructed as the town developed, but these often only remain as sepia images in museum photograph collections. Some of the more interesting of these will also be presented.

William Andrew Martinson was born Johannesburg in 1962. He completed a B.Arch degree and M.Arch degree (Conservation) at the University of Witwatersrand, the latter funded by a bursary awarded by the National Monuments Council.

In 1989, he was appointed by the National Monuments Council as Architect, then a Conservation Architect in 1996 by FKH Architects and the following year by Osmond Lange Architects in Johannesburg as a senior architect. He received an award in 2011 from the Border Kei Institute of Architects for a Heritage Impact Assessment compiled on the Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha. Chairman of the Border Historical Society. Past Council Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority. Member of the Board of the East London Museum and on the Governing Body of the Merrifield Preparatory School and College. Major contributor to the artefacts.co.za website.

After booking a ticket, you will be given access to the recording of the event. Please ignore the event date in the listings.

This event helps raise funds for The Victorian Society - the only charity dedicated to fighting for our Victorian and Edwardian heritage. Join us today and safeguard our unique cultural heritage for future generations! For further information, click here.

The Victorian Society is an IHBC recognised CPD provider​.