Published: 2015-03-25 Views: 1463
HOEV: OPNAME VAN BESIENSWAARDIGHEDE Nr 011
HEHA: SURVEY OF HERITAGE SITES No 011
VERKLAAR nee. GELYS ja
GPS data:X 27.46.02 Y –25.47.29
Gedeelte 4 (Gedeelte van Gedeelte 3) SCHEERPOORT 477JQ.
EIENAAR / KONTAKPERSOON: Scrooby (012-2071121)
Die skuur wat uit drie aangrensende geboue met 600 mm dik baksteenmure, sinkdakke en houtvloere bestaan, is in 1885 deur Dolphus Samuel Scrooby (1855 03 23 - 1925 01 21) opgerig en as hawerskuur gebruik. Hawer is as perdevoer gebruik en perde was in daardie jare die belangrikste vervoermiddel vir kuier, vry, jag, dorp-toe ry, besigheid, polisie en oorlog. Gevolglik was hawer ‘n belangrike gewas, amper soos petrol deesdae. Dat die skuur ook ‘n belangrike gebou was, word deur die feit beklemtoon dat dit van ‘n hoeksteen (met die datum 1885) voorsien is.
Twee ossewaens met gerwe hawer voor die skuur. Let op die duiwehokke in die gewels asook die luike wat toegang tot die solder verleen.
Two ox wagons offloading oats. Note the dovecots and the hatches to the attic where more grain could be stored.
Die skuur het houtvloere gehad om die graan droog te hou en die mure was so hoog dat daar nog plek vir ‘n ruim solder, ook met ‘n plankvloer was. Die sinkplate van die dak is via Lourenco Marques (vandag Maputo genoem) vanaf Engeland ingevoer.
Op Sondae is in die skuur kerk gehou, en elke ses maande is dit vir nagmaal gebruik voordat daar ‘n kerkgebou in Skeerpoort was. Scrooby, wie se vader met die Britse settlaars in 1820 na Suid-Afrika gekom het, het die plaas in 1884 van Andries Pretorius vir perde geruil en hom op Scheerpoort gevestig waar hy gou in die boeregemeenskap opgeneem is en by die tyd van die uitbreek van die Anglo-Boereoorlog het hy die kant van die Boere gekies. Hy het selfs by Nooitgedacht (kyk 007) aan die beroemde geveg op Boerekant deelgeneem. Terwyl hy op kommando was het die Britte die skuur beset, die hawer gevat, die skuur gedeeltelik afgebrand en op sy muur teiken geskiet. Die merke is nou nog sigbaar. Die Scrooby-familie het die skuur na die oorlog weer soos oorspronklik heropgebou en verder gebruik.
Dolphus Scrooby en sy nasate was vooruitstrewende boere en het ook nog na die oorlog op ‘n groot skaal met hawer, koring en tabak geboer. Graan is in September en Oktober geoes en vir die wintermaande in die skuur gestoor. Die Scroobys was van die eerste boere wat ‘n dorsmasjien ingevoer het.
Dolphus Scrooby se kleinseun het in 2002 nog daar gewoon en die gebou as ‘n restourant en teetuin gebruik.
Hierdie foto wys die westekant van die skuur met waens vol tabak.
This photograph shows the western side of the barn with wagons loaded with tobacco.
DECLARED MONUMENT no. LISTED yes
GPS data: X 27.46.02 Y –25.47.29
Portion 4 (Portion of Portion 3) SCHEERPOORT 477JQ
OWNER / CONTACT PERSON: Scrooby (012-2071121)
The importance of horses during previous centuries and the early part of the 20th century cannot be overemphasized. They were used for transport, farming, hunting, business, visiting, courting, and of course in times of war. Storage of fodder was therefore of great importance.
The large Scrooby barn in Skeerpoort consisted of three adjoining buildings with 600mm firewalls between, wooden floors and a corrugated iron roof. The iron was imported from England via Maputo. The wooden floors were there to keep the grain, oats or tobacco dry and the walls were so high to make room for a spacious attic. On the outside there were dovecots below the roof and hatches through which additional access could be gained to the attics.
Evidence of the importance of this building is the fact that there is a cornerstone with the date of its construction – 1885.
Because the barn was the biggest construction in the area, church services were held there on Sundays and even communion every six months before the NG Kerk in Skeerpoort was built.
The barn was constructed by Dolphus Samuel Scrooby (23 03 1855 – 21 01 1925) whose father had arrived with the British settlers in 1820. Dolphus obtained his farm by exchanging horses with Andries Pretorius for land in 1884. He remained in Skeerpoort where he quickly became part of the Boer community, so much so that he chose side against the British during the Second Anglo Boer War of 1899 – 1902. He even took part in the Battle of Nooitgedacht (see 007) in the Magaliesberg when the Boers defeated the enemy. But he paid the price of his Boer allegiance when his oats were confiscated, the barn partially burnt down and the British used the remaining walls for target practice. The marks on the walls are still visible.
After Nooitgedacht the barn was occupied by the Boers who used it as a field hospital. Later it was retaken by the British. After the war, the Sroobys reconstructed the barn and used it extensively.
Dolphus Scrooby and his descendants were industrious farmers and grew oats, wheat and tobacco on a large scale. These products were harvested in September-October and stored in the barn for the winter. The Scroobys were of the first farmers in the area to import a threshing machine. An amusing tale is told by a local resident how one of the grandsons in his haste to transport a bale of hay into the barn before a storm lost his footing over a stream and toppled in bale and all!
After Dolphus’ death in 1925, his son, R G Scrooby used the the barn for curing tobacco. The pegs from which wires were strung on the trusses are still visible today. His son, Gerald Stanford (Bill) Scrooby, used the barn for storing lucern after R G’s death in 1950 until his death in 2002. His widow still lives on the farm and uses the barn as a restaurant and tea garden.
Die skuur vanaf Noord gesien in 2003. The barn seen from North in 2003.
Die hoeksteen met die datum. The corner stone with the date.
Die binnekant van een van die skuur se kamers wat vandag as restourant gebruik word.
The interior of one of the barn’s rooms used as restaurant in 2003.
Die koëlgate in die muur van die ou skuur. The bullet holes in the wall of the old barn.
Wes van die skuur is daar ‘n identiese, maar kleiner skuur van latere datum.
To the west of the old barn there is an identical but smaller barn, of a later date.
Eric Scrooby, sy vrou, ‘n gebore Pretorius, en hulle gesin ten tyde van die bou van Hartbeespoortdam.
Eric Scrooby, his wife, a Pretorius daughter, and their family pose on the foundations of the Hartbeespoort dam.