BH0020

Did You Know?

Rice Blockhouse No 1 is one of a series of blockhouses built by British forces during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) to protect the railway line and communication routes near Colesberg in the Northern Cape. The blockhouse was constructed around 1900 as part of a defensive network that included the nearby Plato camp, which served as a British military encampment. These blockhouses were typically prefabricated corrugated-iron structures mounted on stone or masonry bases, designed to house a small garrison of about six to ten soldiers who could observe and guard the railway against Boer sabotage. Colesberg was a strategically important town during the war, located on the main road and railway between Cape Town and the interior. British forces occupied the area in late 1899 and early 1900, and the blockhouses were erected after the British adopted a scorched-earth policy and began systematic railway protection from mid-1900 onwards. The Rice blockhouses, named after the officer or engineer responsible for their design or placement, were part of a standardized system that included blockhouses spaced within rifle range of each other along vulnerable stretches. Today, Rice Blockhouse No 1 is a heritage site, though many such blockhouses have deteriorated or been removed. The site at Plato camp reflects the broader military engineering legacy of the war, with similar structures found across South Africa. The Northern Cape has several surviving examples, and the Colesberg blockhouses are noted for their historical association with the guerrilla phase of the conflict, when Boer commandos frequently attacked railway infrastructure.

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