Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		St John's Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk - the Round Church Sea Point, Cape Town, Western Cape Charles AS FREEMAN: Architect

Date: 1878 Type: Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk - Church Status: Demolished 1931

Sometimes dubbed "Solomon's Temple" after the founder Henry Solomon. It was a Dutch Reformed Church but was shared by congregations of all denominations including members of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches. It was opened in 1878 and had a diameter of 15.5 metres with a capacity of 300 persons. Legend has it that it was designed to be round so that there could never be a denominational corner. It was bought by the Cape Town Municipality in 1924 for road widening and was demolished, despite vehement protests from local parishioners. (Walker 2012:20) (SALQB Dec 1967:57) All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. References: De Beer, Mona. 1987. Lion Mountain, The : and the story of Bantry Bay, Clifton and Camps Bay on the Atlantic Coast of the Cape Peninsula. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pg 138 Maeder, GA & Zinn, C. 1917. Ons kerk album van Hollandsche kerken en leeraren. Capetown: Cape Times. pg 16 Radford, D. 1979. The architecture of the Western Cape, 1838-1901. A study of the impact of Victorian aesthetics and technology on South African architecture. Johannesburg: Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Dept of Arch. University of the Witwatersrand. pg 115 Walker, Michael. 2012. Early architects of Cape Town and their buildings (1820 - 1926) with postcard illustrations, The. St James: Michael Walker. pg 19 (ill.), 20