BH0020

Did You Know?

Rice Blockhouse No 1 at Plato Camp, near Colesberg in the Northern Cape, is a British blockhouse constructed in 1900 during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). It was part of a network of blockhouses built to secure the railway line and protect British supply routes from Boer commando raids. The blockhouse is a standard corrugated iron and stone design, typical of the 'Rice' type blockhouses named after the British engineer who designed them, Major S. R. Rice. These structures were often placed at strategic points like railway bridges, drifts, and camps. Plato Camp itself was a British military encampment near Colesberg, an important town in the Cape Colony that saw significant skirmishes during the war. The blockhouse served as a defensive post for the camp and the surrounding area. Today, it stands as a tangible reminder of the blockhouse system that stretched across South Africa, though many have been lost to time.

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