 A Walk at The Wilds: an informal group walk
Who: General public (at your own risk!) (since 2005)
Where: Park and meet at St John's College's secure parking at the end of St Patrick Road cnr Houghton Drive (M31S)
When: 1st, 2nd and 4th Sunday May to August at 08:00 and September to April at 07:00 / Or by appointment
Why: "Come and see this hidden gem, Joburg's secret garden"
How much: No charge and no obligation towards any donation
More info: Children and dogs (on leads) are welcome. Good walking shoes. Distance of up to 5km (+/- 90mins)
Contact us: TJ de Klerk, 082 554 9972.
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As these are public open spaces do take the usual precautions!
Don't walk alone, join a group walk:
Melville Koppies CENTRAL: guided walks / activities - www.mk.org.za
1st and 3rd Sunday May to August at 14:00 and September to April at 15:00 /
2nd and 4th Sunday at 08:30 - Wendy Carstens, 011 482 4797.
Melville Koppies WEST: a mini-hike (+/- 90mins) - www.mk.org.za
1st Saturday of the month at 08:00 - Wendy Carstens, 011 482 4797.
PLEASE NOTE: No dog walk on Melville Koppies West on Saturday 1 May - see mini-hike below.
Melville Koppies CENTRAL/EAST/CENTRAL/WEST/CENTRAL: mini-hikes - www.mk.org.za
Saturday 1 May and Friday 24 September at 08:00 - Wendy Carstens, 011 482 4797.
Melville Koppies CENTRAL/EAST/CENTRAL: mini-hikes - www.mk.org.za
5th Sunday of the month (30 May, 29 August, and 31 October) for a special "mini-hike"
Starting at 08:00 in May and August, and 07:00 in October. - Wendy Carstens, 011 482 4797.
Delta Park: a walk (+/- 90mins) - www.footprint.co.za/Deltapark.htm
3rd Sunday of every month at 08:00 - Clive Fletcher, 082 688 1879.
Who: Delta Users Committee - www.footprint.co.za/deltauserscommittee.htm
Where: As you enter the park from Road No 3, Victory Park (off Rustenburg Road) turn right and follow the road to Trefoil Park - the home of the Guides
How much: There is no charge for the walk but after the walk the ladies from the Guides will serve tea/coffee and a muffin at R15 per head. Please support this fund raiser. If you are unable to stay for coffee, the Guides would appreciate a small donation especially as we use their secure parking facilities.
More info: Children (we will run a small fun activity for them) and dogs (with leads) are most welcome.
... and don't forget to join us on facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14851112988
THE WILDS, HOUGHTON ESTATES, JOHANNESBURG
"Blessed too is he who learned to know the Gods of the Wilds"
The Wilds comprises 18 ha of ground on the most northerly of several rocky ridges on which Johannesburg is built and is planted exclusively with indigenous flora. Nestled between Houghton, Killarney and Parktown, The Wilds is within easy walking distance from the most densely populated area of Johannesburg, namely, the Yeoville, Berea and Hillbrow complex.
Work on the development of The Wilds began in 1937. It was built as a South African wild flower garden and still has a wide selection of the original plant population of the area.
Although the Gauteng climate is very different, many of the annuals and perennials of, say, the Western Cape grow here successfully, including typical shrubs such as the Proteas and Ericas. It is noteworthy that the strictly protected Cycads, Podocarpus "Yellowwoods" and Widdringtonias grow successfully at The Wilds. Watsonias which do extremely well here, grow reluctantly in Pretoria, about 60 kilometres away. Over the years many collections of plants have been presented to The Wilds.
Being an organic growing entity, the development of The Wilds goes on continuously by the addition of more shrubs, trees and herbaceous material. Attractive waterfalls add to the beauty of the landscape. Although Houghton Drive bisects The Wilds, the traffic islands are attractively landscaped with South African plants. The two sections of the park are connected by a pedestrian bridge.
For travellers and mountaineers from coastal areas, the Wilds, located at an altitude between 1695 and 1750 metres, serves as an excellent park to become acclimatized for the more demanding Highveld trails.
The geology of The Wilds is of interest - it is underlain by Archaen Granite of the Johannesburg/Pretoria granite dome and shales and quartzite of the Witwatersrand. supergroup. The granite has an age estimated at approximately 3 200 million years. The quartzites and shales were deposited over the granite and belong to the Orange Grove Quartzite formation of the Hospital Hill sub-group. The estimated age of the formation is approximately 2 700 million years. Subsequent to depositions, these rocks were folded and now dip southwards.
A very small area of The Wilds is underlain by diabase, an intrusive igneous rock. The quartzite/shale succession has been displaced by a fault. The quartzite is resistant to erosion and forms the high topography. The thin shale bands form shallow valleys between the quartzite outcrops.
The Wilds is in the summer rainfall area with an annual rainfall of between 635mm and 760mm a year. Boreholes have been sunk to augment the water supply.
THE WILDS, HOUGHTON ESTATES, JOHANNESBURG
The Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company, Ltd, (JCI) was founded by
Barney Barnato in 1889 and it is therefore almost as old as Johannesburg
itself. Due to the long association the company had with the city of
Johannesburg, it was no wonder that the Municipality of Johannesburg
resolved on 11 March 1924 to accept as a gift from JCI about 17,5 ha in
Houghton Estate, of which the company owned a considerable portion. One of
the conditions of the donation determined that the land should be kept in
its natural state as an open space for the recreation of the public. It was
also decided to call the park The Wilds and The Star remarked that the name
was an exceedingly happy choice as the area was typical "koppie country". In
1938 JCI donated a further 1,2 ha to the City Council for the extension of
the park.
Initially the park lay untouched, until Julius Wertheim, at that time int.
al. chairman of the Lower Houghton Ratepayers' Association, visited the well
known park with indigenous flowers in Caledon in 1934. On his return to
Johannesburg he campaigned for the development of The Wilds along similar
lines, However, it was not until 1937, just after the Empire Exhibition,
that the City Council decided to transfer the plants from the exhibition's
rockery to The Wilds. JCI's permission thereto was obtained and thus the
basis for the development of The Wilds as an indigenous garden was
established.
Several bronze plaques have been erected in The Wilds, including one in
honour of Gen. J.C. Smuts, the great nature lover, to whose memory The Wilds
was dedicated after his death in 1950, one in memory of Sir Percy
Fitzpatrick, as The Wilds formed part of his garden while writing Jock of
the Bushveld and one erected in gratitude to Mr and Mrs Wertheim and J.C.C.
van Balen, who became Director of Parks in 1937, for the part they played in
the establishment and development of The Wilds.
When celebrating its 75th anniversary in 1964, JCI donated a plant house and
herbarium for The Wilds. The main purpose of this building is to grow plants
that do not thrive in the open in Johannesburg, like the impala lily, some
cycads and ferns. The building also accommodates a Karoo garden, a "dry"
garden for plants from South West Africa and a sheltered water garden.
The Wilds is probably Johannesburg's most attractive park. It is intensively
planted and the little streams and waterfalls add a great deal to the park's
aesthetic success. As only indigenous flora is to be found in the park, it
is also of scientific, and especially educational importance and therefore a
considerable asset to the city of Johannesburg.
The Wilds was declared a national monument in 1981.
Government Gazette No. 291
20 February 1981
NATIONAL MONUMENTS ACT, No. 28 OF 1969
DECLARATION OF THE WILDS IN HOUGHTON ESTATE, JOHANNESBURG
By virtue of the powers vested in me by section 10 (1) of the National Monuments Act, 1969 (Act 28 of 1969), I, Gerrit van Niekerk Viljoen, Minister of National Education, hereby declare The Wilds in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, comprising the properties as described below, to be a national monument.
Description
The Wilds, comprising the following properties:
(a) Certain Lot 2333 (being a portion of the remaining extent of Reserve 2) (now known as Portion 15 of Erf 2389), situate on St Patrick's Road and Houghton Drive, of that portion known as Houghton Estate Township of the farm Houghton Estate 5, District of Johannesburg, measuring nine (9) morgen four hundred and thirty-seven (437) square roods eighty-four (84) square feet. Deed of Transfer F1305/1925, dated 15 April 1925 (paragraph 1).
(b) Certain remaining extent of Reserve 1 (now kown as remaining extent of Erf 2388), situate on Houghton Drive on that portion known as Houghton Estate Township of the farm Houghton Estate 5, District of Johannesburg, measuring nine (9) morgen four hundred and twenty-two (422) square roods seventeen (17) square feet. Deed of Transfer F1305/1925, dated 15 April 1925 (paragraph 2).
(c) Remaining extent of certain freehold lot marked 2300, situate on Munro and Houghton Drives, measuring four hundred and eighty-four (484) square roods one hundred and eight (108) square feet, situate on that portion known as Houghton Estate Township of the freehold farm Houghton Estate 5, District of Johannesburg. Deed of Transfer F1440/1938, dated 23 February 1938.
Historical and aesthetic interest
In 1925 the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company Ltd donated the original portion of The Wilds to the Municipal Council of Johannesburg, on condition that it be kept as an open space for the recreation of the public. Since 1936 The Wilds has been planted with indigenous flora only and has developed into what is probably the most attractive park in Johannesburg.
10/2/820.
G. VAN N. VILJOEN, Minister of National Education.
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