Grand Parade, Cape Town

The Parade is inseparably associated with the Castle and was used by its garrison as a training ground. Despite this, however, for many years it remained a grassy meadow dissected by meandering streams. In 1763 the burgers of Cape Town planted a number of oaks around this area, and in 1806 the city treasury voted money for the erection of a fountain and the planting of more trees. The fountain was never completed and, by 1814, all traces of it had disappeared. Despite its value as a civic open ground, over the years a number of buildings have built on its fringes, and today it has shrunk to about one half of its original area. It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 31 August 1962.