Arts, Culture & Heritage
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Blue Plaque Sites

The Fort

Table of Contents

Address

Constitution Hill, outside Number 2 Block
Installed: 2018

Inscription

THE FORT Commissioned November 1896. The Jameson Raid led the South African Republic (Z.A.R.) Executive to instruct Cmdt. A.F. Schiel to construct a fort around part of the existing gaol. Designed to control the town, railways and mines, the fort had two bastions for long-range guns linked by earth ramparts. Convict labour excavated and loaded rock and soil from the northern slopes. On 31 May 1900 the South Australian Mounted Rifles took the surrender of The Fort. The first to enter were Sgt-Maj. J.R. Read and Cpl. H.H. "Breaker" Morant. Thereafter it was garrisoned by the Cheshire Regiment which retained the captured South African Republic (Z.A.R.) flag, the "Vierkleur," amongst its trophies.

Photo courtesy: Kabelo Mokoena (Sunday Times)

Explore Joburg

A culmination of research gathered over many years, the Online Johannesburg Heritage Register is being launched on Nelson Mandela Day 18 July 2025.

Among the many heritage sites featured is Chancellor House, the downtown offices of Mandela and Tambo Attorneys in the 1950s. After having been vacant and shuttered for more than a decade, this iconic building is being revived and brought to life once again as offices for the Community Development Department, which oversees the City’s Arts, Culture & Heritage Services.

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