HERITAGE
St John's Church circa 1906
In the late 1980's, Hazel England, curator of the Pinetown Museum, carried
out extensive research and produced a publication on our St John's cemetery,
which forms an integral part of Pinetown's history. In 1999, Fred Pitout,
then rector of St Johns, in consultation with the late Peter Sherratt (a parishioner) and Hazel England, erected temporary crosses on unmarked plots in
the Anglo-Boer War site. Subsequently, these temporary crosses were
replaced with regulation metal crosses and inscriptions. A re-dedication
service was held on the centenary of the ending of the Anglo-Boer War.
Interest in the history of
our church and parish and the importance of our cemetery was rekindled and
consequently the Heritage Group was formed in September 2000. The group’s
mission statement is ‘To preserve
our heritage’ and it has the following aims and objectives:
- To record the history
and development of St John’s, filling in the known gaps and adding current
information. This information is to be in the public domain.
- To record gravesite and
Garden of Remembrance information as well plaques etc. in the church
- To maintain and repair
headstones, grave surrounds, lettering etc. and to keep the graveyard neat
and tidy
A re-dedication ceremony of the Anglo-Zulu
war graves was held in August 2004, on the 125th anniversary of
the cessation of hostilities.
Sounds boring? Far from
it! Although the work of our ministry is serious, as a group we are casual and
have a lot of fun. Many of the pioneers of Pinetown and their descendants are
buried here and there are many interesting tales on each of them.
We meet in the small hall
at 09:30 am on the 2nd Saturday of each month. Do join us, even if you can’t
make it every month. A current and very topical project is the production of a
booklet in support of the Parish’s 150th anniversary in 2006. Contact Mr Errol
Greenslade at St Johns - click here
to e-mail, or telephone the church office on 031 7020712.
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THE EARLY HISTORY
The interior of the early church in 1856,
consecrated by the Right Reverend John William Colenso, the first Bishop of
Natal
Pinetown grew from a few scattered homesteads in the valley between what is
now known as Kloof and Cowies Hill. Early church services were held in the
"Parkhouse" in New Germany, with the Revd. Posselt of the Lutheran
faith, the only ordained minister in the area, conducting services. Bishop
Colenso, passing through Pinetown in 1854, was offered 5 acres of land by Mr
Murray for the erection of a small church. Funds were raised, and on 3 December
1856, St John's, a little white-washed, thatched church was consecrated by the
Right Reverend John William Colenso, first Bishop of Natal. Archdeacon Mackenzie
was appointed to care for Pinetown and other coastal parishes with Reverend
James Walton the permanent Vicar. This little church became the focal point of
village life.
During the latter half of the 19th Century, St John's was prominently involved
in the dispute between the newly formed Church of the Province of South Africa
under Bishop Grey of Cape Town and the supporters of Bishop Colenso's Church of
England in South Africa. There were thus two churches in Pinetown claiming to be
the Anglican Church, until the rift was healed in 1884 when Reverend William
Bromilow became Vicar of St John's on 1 October.
With the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, thousands of British troops
were rushed to Natal to protect the area from invasion by the Zulus. Military
camps were set up and Pinetown became an important garrison village. This
changed the social and economic life of the village, besides increasing the
Church congregation. Troops and family members who died, often through illness,
were buried in St John's graveyard. A graveyard dedicated to those soldiers is
sited within the cemetery. One of the soldiers buried in this gravesite
was a defender of Rorke's Drift. The Sons of England were responsible for
having a granite memorial erected to their memory. After the war, many of
the soldiers and their families stayed in the area.
The 2nd Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899 and because Natal was predominantly
British, the young men of Durban and surrounding areas joined with the British
forces. Troop trains regularly passed through Pinetown on their way to the
northern battlefields. With an abundance of water close to the railway line and
a healthy climate, Pinetown was the ideal spot for the military hospital. Mr
Frank Stevens of Sarnia offered a portion of his land and the existing Fairydene
buildings to the British Government for use as a military hospital. Mr Alfred
Moseley of Middlesex donated equipment and a pre-fabricated hospital building
which was shipped out from England in pieces.
Helena, "Princess Christian", a daughter of Queen Victoria, gave her
name to the 13th Stationary Hospital which was officially opened on 26 May 1900.
Both troops and Boer Prisoners of War were treated at the hospital. Cases of
enteric fever accounted for 26 deaths and there were a further 7 deaths from
dysentery. A return of deaths at the hospital recorded 47 fatalities of which 3
were officers, 43 troops and Petrus Pretorius, a Prisoner of War. The deceased
were buried at St John's Cemetery in Pinetown and the Mariannhill Mission.
The hospital closed in 1902. In 1905, the Fairydene Hotel was opened by Mr Frank
Stevens on the site of the hospital, a Pinetown landmark. In 1985 it became the
present Fairydene Retirement Home. The Guild of Loyal Women erected the
sandstone Anglo-Boer War Memorial in the cemetery in 1922. A new plaque
made from polished granite was installed in the memorial. Mr Steve Watt,
an authority on military grave sites around the country has assisted with the
refurbishing of the original regulation crosses which were re-erected in
accordance to the military grave site plan.
The Heritage Group is heavily involved at the moment in researching and
documenting the grave sites and drawing up a detailed plan of the
cemetery. Regular repair and maintenance sessions are carried out to keep
the graves, headstones and surrounds in good repair.
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