Did You Know?
The Rice Blockhouse at the railway bridge in De Aar is a relic of the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), specifically constructed around 1900. De Aar was a crucial railway junction on the Cape-to-Bulawayo line and the line to the north-west, making it a vital British military supply and communication hub during the war. Blockhouses were erected by the British to protect key infrastructure, such as railway bridges and junctions, from Boer commando raids. The Rice blockhouse was one of a series of prefabricated corrugated-iron and stone forts, often named after their designers or commanders, and this particular one guarded the railway bridge over the nearby watercourse. This type of blockhouse, sometimes referred to as a 'Rice' pattern, was typically a two-storey cylindrical or square structure with loopholes for rifle fire, designed to house a small garrison. The British built hundreds of such blockhouses across the Cape Colony and the Orange Free State, linked by barbed wire and blockhouse lines, to restrict Boer mobility. The De Aar site was strategically important because the railway bridge carried the main line over the Ongers River (or a tributary), and its protection was essential for uninterrupted troop and supply movements. Today, the Rice Blockhouse at De Aar is a provincial heritage site, recognised for its historical and military significance. It stands as a tangible reminder of the blockhouse strategy employed by Lord Kitchener to counter Boer guerrilla tactics. The structure is one of the few surviving examples of its kind in the Northern Cape, offering insight into late-Victorian military engineering and the harsh realities of the war in the arid interior of South Africa.
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