Southern Suburbs, Newlands, Kirstenbosch Garden

Abstract

The bell in Kirstenbosch Garden at Newlands comes from H.M.S. Dominion, one of King Edward VII of England's battleships that was attached to Third Battle Squadron during the First World War and was scrapped in 1924. The bell was given to Sir Lionel Phillips by a friend who had been a gunnery officer aboard the Dominion. It was first hung outside the wine cellars, then outside the Library at Vergelegen and was tolled when Sir Lionel died. In 1938 Lady Phillips donated the bell to Kirstenbosch and it became part of the tower built to commemorate Sir Lionel Phillips. The bell is rung every weekday to mark the time for the gardeners: 07:30 to start the working day, 10:00-10:20 break for tea, 13:10-14:00 lunch break and 16:20 time to go home. The tower stands at the former entrance to the gardens and was designed by Gwelo Goodman, a painter, architect and friend of the Phillips and inaugurated at a ceremony on 27 April 1938 by Sir James Rose-Innes, President of the Botanical Society, when the bell was tolled three times by Lady Phillips. The ship Dominion was commissioned in 1905 and entered service with the Atlantic Fleet to be incorporated into the Home Fleet later. When World War I broke out, the ship was assigned to the Grand Fleet and conducted operations as part of the Northern Patrol. She was a parent ship for the raids on Zeebrugge and Ostend, and, decommissioned in May, ended the war as an accommodation ship. She was disposed of in 1919 and eventually scrapped in 1924. Below the name of the bell in curly lettering there is a very small decoration with curls. On the side of the bell tower is a commemorative plaque referring to the origin of the bell tower. The bell itself was probably made at the same time as the commission of the ship.