Westcliff

Introducing Westcliff

Westcliff forms the West end of the Parktown ridge, which is shaped like an amphitheatre and affords glorious views across the sylvan Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg all the way to the Magaliesberg Mountains on the horizon. The Gold reef, it was soon discovered, ended along the southern flank of the present CBD, so the natural advantages of the ridge were soon exploited as being residential land of great value.

The first people to build along the summits of the northern ridges were the aristocracy of the early mining industry, at the start of the 20^th century. A plot on the ridge soon became a must for the very rich and the truly influential, and the ridge became very exclusive.

IIn 1902 a new section was proclaimed as a township and advertised for sale, Westcliff. When Gold was discovered, 1896, there were no trees on the ridge, only sparse grass and succulents around bare and prominent Quartz rocks. As soon as the new residents settled however they competed in planting large or fast growing trees in their gardens, even if it meant dynamiting holes into the ground and importing earth. Trees were of the essence then, and still lend a very seductive arboreal atmosphere to present day Westcliff. In fact, many of the old koppie-stone garden walls, and the stone facades of most of the old residences, seen under  the dappled shade of the trees, seem to be covered by a patina of age, offering a most endearing and durable impression to the visitor, especially if on a walking tour. In fact, although it is practically next to the city’s concrete conglomeration, Westcliff can be almost remote and even eerie in a countrified way, thus creating a wonderful contrast. And the past is never too distant.

The residents of present day Westcliff still have much pride in their suburb, and by and large still include many of the well to do, but the days of the mega rich Randlords and the Empire builders who first settled there are long gone. The first Randlord to settle in Westcliff was important in Rand Mines Ltd. known as the Corner House Group of companies. This was Raymond Schumacher, for whom the still magnificent ‘Pallinghurst’ was built. This mansion can be seen to special advantage from the Zoo Lake grounds far below, because it forms an almost natural quartzite rampart to the ridge. Naturalness of materials, in accordance with the Arts and Crafts movement, such as the use of materials to be found on site, was one of the hallmarks of the great architect, Herbert Baker.

Baker and Fleming designed ‘Glenshiel’, close by, a very romantic and aristocratic mansion built for Sir William Dalrymple, that now houses the H.Q. of the Order of St. Johns.

Among the Empire builders one should at least mention Sir Aubrey Woolls Sampson, a soldier of distinction and one of those who would rather die than concede on a matter of principle, and who served the aims and ideals of the British Empire to the fullest. His house, ‘The Woolsack’ is now the ‘Ridge School’.

Turning to the present, one can note among the most modern additions that the influence of that pioneering architect, Herbert Baker, is alive still today, in works that embrace the trees and the character of the suburb, works that use, where possible, the koppie-stone from the outcrops of the ridge, and much wood, and sympathetic materials throughout, and keep to an articulate ‘roofiness’ in natural slate. There is a world to describe on a visit to this suburb, and many memories to conserve. Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust guides are well aware of that fact and can, whilst contemplating the facades of the splendid old, and new, architectural examples, expand on the history of the suburb and on the contribution made by past residents, and take you to the most picturesque spots.

Raymond Cardosa

Westcliff Houses

Last Edit : 26/8/2010