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Fort Daspoortrand

After the Jameson raid in 1895, the Transvaal Government (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) decided to fortify the city of Pretoria with eight forts. Of these only four were built due to financial constraints. Fort Daspoortrand (West Fort - as renamed by the British) was one of the four forts and is the only one that was designed by the French and as a result is architecturally different from the other forts. The fort was completed in 1898 but its usefulness would be ironically curtailed by the outbreak of war in 1899. The ZAR Government decided to remove the guns placed at the fort to be used in the field. Soldiers manning the fort were also sent to the front. The result is that when the British took Pretoria, not a single shot was fired from any one of the four forts. Today West Fort lies in ruin but is still worth a visit. Most structures are still visible (although not always accessible). The bombproof rooms can still be seen with inscription above each door indicating its function. Entrances to the tunnels connecting the courtyard with the munitions room are still in good order and at our last visit, the entrance had been excavated. To the east of West Fort are the remains of a blockhouse built by the British during the latter part of the Second Anglo-Boer War. It is of a circular design built of stone and was connected to the fort with a road.