Introduction

The Rhodes Memorial is a tribute to the English-born politician and mining magnate Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902) situated at Devil’s Peak at Cape Town, South Africa and adjacent to Table Mountain.

A memorial to Cecil Rhodes proposed by Earl Grey, former Administrator of Rhodesia (2 April 1896 – 5 December 1898) for a statue after the historic “colossus of Rhodes” on the island of Rhodes, Greece and similar to the large statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro was rejected and Sir Robert Macey and Sir Herbert Baker’s design for a memorial was adopted. The site itself was chosen by Sir Herbert Baker and Rudyard Kipling – both friends of Rhodes.

The memorial was financed by voluntary donations from Cape Town citizens in admiration for all that Rhodes accomplished and the very considerable contribution he made to the development and increasing prosperity of Southern Africa during his thirty-two years in South Africa.

 Rhodes Memorial looking down the steps to the terrace

Design and construction of the Rhodes Memorial

The Rhodes Memorial itself is in the architectural style of an ancient Greek Temple and was designed by the architects Sir Robert Macey and Sir Herbert Baker. The memorial was completed in 1912, some ten years after Rhodes’ own death.

Baker supposedly designed the memorial after the Greek temple at Segesta; however, many architects state the design is closer to the temple of Pergamon and consists of a massive staircase with 49 steps (one for each year of Rhodes's life) leading from a semi-circular terrace up to a rectangular U-shaped monument formed of pillars that contains Rhodes’ bronze bust.

   Reconstruction of the Pergamon Altar at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin

Four wide terraces flanked by pairs of lions lead down to GF Watt's "Physical Energy." The granite Doric columns, so admired by Rhodes in classical architecture, are a conspicuous feature of the memorial.

 Granite Doric columns are a major feature of the memorial

The memorial is built of Cape granite quarried on Table Mountain. In 1906 James Andrew Clift received the contract from JR McKillop to supply and prepare the granite for the Rhodes Memorial. This was his first commission as an independent contractor and the company JA Clift (Pty) Ltd is still owned by the Clift family and is the oldest monumental and granite contracting business in South Africa. Clift in a letter dated 13th March 1906 agreed to a total order of 26,000 cubic feet of granite to be delivered at a rate of 2,000 cubic feet a month to the top of Kloof Street.

The granite used in the Rhodes Memorial is a coarse-grained granite similar to that quarried at the Higgo Quarry. Dr Doug Cole, writer of "Building Stones of Cape Town" believes that the Bellevue Quarry lay a little further down the slopes of Table Mountain, closer to the city, in the vicinity of the present-day Bellevue Street. To lift the heavy granite blocks required to build the memorial's granite temple, steps and terraces, Clift imported a new wooden crane and the first delivery of granite from the Bellevue quarry was paid for on 19th May 1906.[1]

Architectural detail                             

The eight bronze lions that flank the steps leading upwards are the work of John Macallan Swan, an English painter and sculptor, and are modelled on those lions around Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London: he also made the bronze bust of Rhodes. The inscription below the bust is "To the spirit and life work of Cecil John Rhodes who loved and served South Africa 1853 - 1902" Inscribed below the bust of Rhodes are the last four lines of the last stanza of Rudyard Kipling’s 1902 poem “Burial” written in honour of Rhodes:

The immense and brooding spirit still

Shall quicken and control.

Living he was the land, and dead,

His soul shall be her soul!

The Physical Energy Statue

At the bottom of the steps is a bronze statue of a horseman reining in his horse. Physical Energy by George Frederic Watts was the sculptor’s tribute to the restless drive and determination of Rhodes to expand the British Empire. Watts had painted a portrait of Rhodes in 1888, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. During Rhodes’ last portrait sitting, Watts showed him Physical Energy in the garden at Little Holland House. Rhodes suggested it would be a suitable monument for his Cape to Cairo railway, and reflected, “I would write on the base the names of the first subscribers, and the words These people believed that this scheme was possible.”

Following Rhodes’s death in 1902, Lord Grey (the former Administrator of Rhodesia and Director of the British South Africa Company) approached Watts to ask whether the sculpture could be cast as a memorial to Rhodes. Watts agreed. He replied that he considered Rhodes to be, “the last of great Englishmen of his type. My statue, intended as an emblem of the energy and outlook so peculiarly characteristic of him, shall be dedicated as you propose…the gift so far shall be my contribution, and up to that point my identification with a great personality.”[2]

  View of G.F. Watts bronze sculpture Physical Energy

The statue was cast at Parlanti’s foundry in Parson’s Green, London and reported to be the largest sculpture ever to be made in bronze in Britain at that time. It was initially exhibited in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 1904, as part of the annual Summer Exhibition. Cast 1 was originally intended to mark Rhodes’s grave at ‘World’s View’ (Malindidzimu) in the Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe, however difficulties in transporting the monumental sculpture prevented this and so it was sent to Cape Town to form part of the Rhodes Memorial.

   View from the semi-circular terrace at the base of the Rhodes Memorial

Four copies of Physical Energy were created and the full-scale gesso model has been on display at the sculpture gallery of Watts Gallery since 1907. Cast 2 is erected in Kensington Gardens.[3] In 1959 Cast 3 was paid for by the British South Africa Company and installed in front of the High Court, Lusaka, Zambia. On independence in 1964 the cast was relocated to Harare and finally moved to the National Archives of Zimbabwe (see the article The National Archives under Harare on the website www.zimfieldguide.com) Cast 4 was commissioned in 2017 and subject to planning permission will be displayed close to G F and Mary Watts’s home and studio at Limnerslease, near the Watts Gallery.

        Cecil Rhodes portrait by G.F. Watts            The full-scale model of Physical Energy

The Rhodes Memorial was completed and dedicated in 1912.

Location

The Rhodes Memorial is located on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak and the northern flank of Table Mountain at what was Rhodes’ favourite spot on his former estate. It commands a panoramic view across the city towards False Bay and Table Bay in the foreground. Rhodes had bought much of the lower slopes of Table Mountain and on his death, this land was bequeathed to South Africa. Parts of his estate were gifted as follows:

• The University of Cape Town's upper campus
• The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
• Much of the land was preserved in its natural state including the Rhodes Memorial site

The memorial faces north-east in what Herbert Baker envisioned as the start of Rhodes’ dream of the Cape to Cairo Railway and a red line on the map of British territories stretching northwards up the African continent.

The memorial provides a magnificent view of Cape Town out over the airport and the Cape Flats to the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland Mountains.[4]

Natural environment around the Rhodes Memorial

Today the memorial is part of the Table Mountain National Park and is classified as a natural world heritage site, and Natural New 7 Wonder of the World. Interspersed amongst the Fynbos are groves of oaks and stone pines[5] also a few remaining pockets of the original Afromontane forest including a small forest of a famous native tree called the Silvertree. The Silvertree (Leucadendron argenteum) also known as the Silver leaf Tree, Witteboom or Silwerboom, is a protected evergreen tree of the Protea family and is confined to a tiny area around Cape Town on the slopes of Table Mountain above Rhodes memorial and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. This rare and threatened tree species is in danger of becoming extinct in the wild in the future. A number of South Africa’s most prestigious institutions, including Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, are attempting to halt this extinction process.

Map of the World Heritage nomination                   Holger Heye: Cape Silver Tree                                                   

 of the Cape Floral region                                   https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/38400750

Outdoor activities around the Rhodes Memorial

The Rhodes Memorial Tea Room was destroyed by fire during the 2021 Table Mountain fire which started on 18 April 2021. This was a well-known starting point for walking and hiking on Devil's Peak.

  Burnt out remains of the Rhodes Memorial Tea Room

Below the memorial are the University of Cape Town (UCT), Groote Schuur Hospital and Mostert’s Mill. The Groote Schuur Zoo closed in the late 1970’s and Rhodes home, Groote Schuur, is now a South African presidential residence. A statue of Rhodes was situated on the UCT campus, on the lower part of Sarah Baartman Hall steps overlooking the university's rugby fields. This statue had become the focus of protests in March 2015 calling for its removal and it has now been permanently removed.

Hike to the King’s Blockhouse

Above the memorial is the King's Blockhouse on the contour path that goes between Kirstenbosch National Botanic Gardens and towards Table Mountain. The quickest way to reach it is from the Rhodes Memorial itself on the path that starts at the top left of the parking area.

The King’s Blockhouse

The King’s Blockhouse was built as a defensive and lookout position in 1796 by the British to form a defensive line guarding the land approach to Cape Town and Table Bay following their first occupation of the Cape in 1795. The existing Dutch line of defence, known as the French line, was extended by the addition of three blockhouses up the slopes of Devil's Peak. These included the Queen's Blockhouse, on the Zonnebloem Estate, the Prince of Wales, above present-day De Waal Drive, and the King's Blockhouse further up the mountainside.

The first two have since fallen into a state of disrepair, but the King's Blockhouse, a massive stone structure 7 metres square, located on a prominent point on the Devil's Peak, was retained in use as a signal station for communication between Table Bay and False Bay. The line was further strengthened in 1814 when several additional redoubts were built, and at one stage served as the official boundary between Cape Town and the country districts beyond. The King's Blockhouse was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 4 February 1938.[6]

Please take note:

Take water, sunblock and a windbreaker if you plan to visit the king’s Blockhouse. The peak is very exposed to wind and mist, so hikers must always take care. A number of the descents on the Southern Suburbs side are very steep and wet, and are highly dangerous (particularly Second Waterfall Ravine, Dark Gorge and Els Ravine). These routes should not be attempted, as many lives have been lost by hikers taking the wrong route.

The general rule that applies is to stick to known and well-marked paths, and not to push on into the unknown.

Rhodes Memorial to Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden

The hike is fairly easy and takes about three hours to complete. You walk on the contour path to the top of Kirstenbosch. There are stunning views over the city and False Bay and on a clear day you can see all the way to Hangklip on the other side of False Bay. The many boardwalks make the going easier to walk and much of it is in forest and sheltered from the sun.

Vandalism of the Rhodes Memorial

In September 2015, the bronze bust of Rhodes was vandalised for the first time with the nose being cut off and graffiti written across the memorial accusing Rhodes of being a "Racist, thief, [and] murderer." The nose was later restored by a local artist and historian.

In July 2020, the head of the bronze bust weighing over 80kg was decapitated with an angle grinder. It was found fifty metres away in low scrub three days after it had been cut off and was handed over to SANParks for assessment. The Friends of Rhodes Memorial had the head repaired and reattached in time for Heritage Day later that year.

   Photo: Henk Kruger. The bronze bust of Cecil Rhodes was vandalised on 19 July 2020 

      Photo: Donwald Pressly. the repaired bronze bust of Cecil Rhodes

Donwald Pressly in the Daily Maverick reported all the sculptures at Rhodes Memorial have been 3D scanned and full-size replicas have been made as replacements to counter any future damage – Industrial cement and iron have been filled into the statue as well as the installation of a GPS tracker and other electronic alarm systems as anti-vandalism measures

Controversy over the Rhodes Memorial

Cecil Rhodes remains controversial in post-Apartheid South Africa. Some are of the opinion that colonialism and apartheid are part of the history of South Africa and that the Rhodes Memorial therefore is appropriate. Another view on the matter is that due to the impact that colonialism has had on forming the unequal society that is South Africa today, this kind of memorial is inappropriate

The controversy around Cecil Rhodes monuments was addressed by the Rhodes Must Fall movement, a series of student protests, that eventually led to the removal of Rhodes’ statue at the University of Cape Town campus. The same arguments are brought up in relation to the Rhodes Memorial, as well as for other monuments and statues of Rhodes in Southern Africa.

These debates are part of the efforts to transform South African society to make up for some of the politics that the apartheid regime and colonialism has inflicted upon the country.

The memorial vandalism in 2015 and 2020 is probably the result of the controversy and protests against legacies of colonialism and imperialism called the Scramble for Africa.

Robert Mugabe and Cecil Rhodes’ grave at ‘World’s View’ (Malindidzimu) in the Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe

In April 2015, Robert Mugabe gave a wry response to the successful campaign to remove Rhodes’ statue from the campus of the University of Cape Town. “You may have the statue because that’s where he began,” said Mr Mugabe, “We have him down below the Matopos as that’s where he wanted to die. I don’t know what you think we should do? Dig him up? I say let him stay down there. Cecil Rhodes, well, that is history now.”

Cecil John Rhodes: 5 July 1853 — 26 March 1902

Rhodes’ career was initially as a mining magnate who founded the De Beers Consolidated Mines diamond company at Kimberley and later became a prominent politician and then Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 17 July 1890 to 12 January 1896. Rhodes was forced from office after the Jameson Raid – led by his friend Dr Leander Starr Jameson.[7] (see the article The Jameson Raid under Bulawayo on the website www.zimfieldguide.com)

Rhodes was born at Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. A sickly child, at 17 years his father, a clergyman, sent him to his elder brother in Southern Natal where they tried cotton farming. He then journeyed to Kimberley in the Northern Cape in 1870 and began dealing in the hopelessly disorganised uncut stone "digger's market" and began to systematically buy out and consolidate the various individual diamond claims assisted by his friend Alfred Beit. By the age of 40, Rhodes had acquired extraordinary wealth.

After completing his studies at Oriel College, Oxford he returned to Kimberley and convinced Rothchild & Co to provide the finance to buy out his former rival, Barney Bonato, for ultimate control of the diamond market with De Beers Consolidated Mines formed in 1888.

Rhodes entered Parliament at the Cape in 1881 as the member for Barclay East and in 1890, he became Prime Minister and lived at his Cape Town home Groote Schuur also spending his time and money in developing the fruit industry. To this day, Rhodes Fruit Farm in Groot Drakenstein, is still part of the Anglo-American Consortium.

In 1890 he contracted Frank Johnson to organise the Pioneer Column into Mashonaland, (See the article The Pioneer Column’s march from Macloutsie to Mashonaland under Harare on the website www.zimfieldguide.com) Rhodes formed the British South Africa Company to administer the new territory of Mashonaland.

However, he was forced to resign in 1896 after the disastrous Jameson Raid, an unauthorised attack led by Dr Leander Starr Jameson on the South African Republic (or Transvaal) Rhodes' career never recovered; his heart was weak, and after years of ill health he died in 1902 at his Muizenberg cottage. (See the article Rhodes’ Muizenberg Cottage under Bulawayo on the website www.zimfieldguide.com) He was 49 years old. At his request he was buried at Malindidzimu in Zimbabwe. (See the article World's View, Matobo under Matabeleland South on the website www.zimfieldguide.com)

    A general view down the steps of The Rhodes Memorial

References

Wikipedia. Rhodes Memorial

https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/kings-blockhouse-devils-peak-cape-town

J.A. Clift (Pty) Ltd. http://www.cliftgranite.co.za/content.php?tag=12

Donwald Pressly. Daily Maverick. 15 July 2020 The day Cecil John Rhodes lost his head. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-07-15-the-day-cecil-john-rhodes-lost-his-head/

IOL 29 Sept 2020. https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/rhodes-memorial-statues-head-reattached-fortified-and-replica-made-after-vandalism-ffe1a806-c8c0-4231-8353-ccf791c0ff81