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Breakwater Lodge

History of Cape TownPrison stubsSouth African building and structure stubs
Breakwater Lodge
Breakwater Lodge

The Breakwater Lodge in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa was built as a prison in 1859. It is now part of the University of Cape Town and a hotel. The original prison was built in 1859 for convicts from Britain at the suggestion of John Montagu who was the colonial secretary to the Cape of Good Hope from 1843 to 1852. They were transported to The Cape to work on the construction of the breakwater which would allow the harbour which is now the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront to be built. The remains of a treadmill on which prisoners were punished can still be seen.During the later part of the 19th century other prisoners were accommodated at Breakwater prison and it was the first site to racially segregate black and white convicts.In 1902 white prisoners were moved into a new building, called the Industrial Breakwater Prison, which remains today. The design with four castellated turrets and an enclosed courtyard was styled after Millbank and Pentonville prisons in England. After ten years as a prison it became a juvenile offenders institution and from 1926 until 1989 a hostel for black dock workers.Since 1991 it has served as the business school of University of Cape Town and hotel run by the Protea chain.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Breakwater Lodge (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Breakwater Lodge
Portswood Road, Cape Town Foreshore

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -33.906666666667 ° E 18.416111111111 °
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University of Cape Town (Breakwater Campus)

Portswood Road
8001 Cape Town, Foreshore
Western Cape, South Africa
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Breakwater Lodge
Breakwater Lodge
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Somerset Hospital (Cape Town)
Somerset Hospital (Cape Town)

The Somerset Hospital in the Green Point area of Cape Town, South Africa opened in 1864 and has been declared a provincial heritage site.The hospital replaced one of the same name in Chiapinni Street, which had been founded by Dr Samuel Bailey in 1818 as the first civilian hospital in Cape Town. It was named after Lord Charles Somerset the governor of the Cape Colony who gave land for the construction. The Chavonnes Battery was used as an isolation and convalescent wing.The cornerstone for the new hospital was laid on 18 August 1859 by the Cape Governor Sir George Grey. In addition to the appointment of medical staff, nurses were recruited from the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, St Thomas' Hospital in London including Sister Helen Bowden, who in 1877 became the first fully qualified nurse to be appointed as Matron of Somerset Hospital. Subsequently, the hospital established its own nurse training school, becoming the first hospital to train non-white nurses.From 1918 until 1937, when the Groote Schuur Hospital opened it was the main academic hospital of the University of Cape Town. A new West Wing opened in 1973 for white patients. The old building was renamed the north wing, not because of their position but the N meant for non-white patients and the W of West Wing signified that it was for Whites. The high incidence of HIV infections amongst the patients led to the establishment of the hospital as a prime referral centre for the treatment of AIDS and the first antiretroviral distribution centre was established there in 2005.Since then various plans have been announced for the development of the grounds including hotels, offices and residential accommodation. The hospital is also home to the Cape Medical Museum.In 2008 the hospital appealed for funds from local businesses to establish a new trauma unit and a ward for women suffering from a spontaneous miscarriage. In 2010 it opened a new measles ward following a rise in measles cases in Cape Town. In 2010 a studio was built, along with its own lift, on the top of the hospital for use by BBC presenters during 2010 FIFA World Cup matches at the nearby stadium. Additionally in 2010 plans were announced to move the hospital to a new site in the northern sector of the city, to serve the densely populated West Coast region.