Slagboom Dam

In 1920 the South African Railways acquired a portion of the farm Good Hope in extent 661 morgen, situate in the district of Uitenhage, with a view to providing a storage dam in the valley of the Witterivier, from which to supply Coerney station with water for steam locomotives. Because of the high cost of damming the river and piping the water all the way to Coerney, a distance of some 15m, the scheme was shelved.
    The proposal lay dormant until 1946 when it was revived, no doubt due to the greater water demands resulting from more frequent and heavier trainloads. In that year portion 11 of the farm Slagboom, situate just downstream of the farm Good Hope, was acquired. It measured approximately 318 morgen. Originally the farm Slagboom (Uit.Q.4.90) was granted to Jacobus Johannes Scheepers on 11 October 1820.
    This land presented a very good dam site. In 1951 the dam wall was completed, the storage capacity being 477 million litres. The water area of the dam covers some 10ha. In 1953 the water supply scheme was augmented by doubling the pipeline and the reservoir.
    Water was pumped through a 550m long pipeline to two high level reservoirs. From that elevation the water gravitated all the way to Coerney station along a twin main, 11.3km long. The pipeline route was situated within a servitude crossing 13 farms. The owners of five of these farms applied for and were granted a supply of 18 000 litres of water per month. The Addo Elephant Park obtained water from the same source.
    During the second half of the 1960's diesel traction was gradually introduced on the Cape Midlands mainline, thereby diminishing the importance of Coerney as a watering point for steam locomotives.
 
    The origin of the name is given by Thomas Pringle in his "Narrative of a Residence in South Africa". He writes: "Many years ago, before the Caffres were dispossessed of this part of the country and finally driven over the Great Fish River, the chief Kongo and his clan occupied the White River Valley....in great force.
    "During one of the struggles which ensued, in consequence of Kongo's attempt to maintain himself....in this district, a party of seventy or eighty boors were sent to occupy this glen....The boors rode in without opposition through this pass, but finding the enemy stronger than they expected, they become alarmed and attempted to retreat by the same road. The Caffres, however, who on this occassion showed themselves not destitute of military skill, had, in the meanwhile, blocked the narrow path by stretching a large tree across it near the centre, and fastening it with thongs and wattles at either end; and then stationing themselves in strong bands among the copsewood, they attacked the boors on all sides as soon as they had fairly re-entered the defile with showers of javelins, and slew a great number of them before they were able to force a passage through. From this catastrophe the spot obtained the name of the 'Slagboom' or 'Toll-bar'."