A recent picture of the Dutch Reformed Church in Simon’s Town.

According to the Simon's Town Museum, in 1838, Simon's Town had the largest Catholic community outside of Cape Town. At that time, a priest would occasionally visit the town to hold services. Father Watkins became the first parish priest in 1850 and conducted services in his own home until the construction of the first Catholic chapel. In 1885, Father Rooney had a new church built from local stone. In 1969, Father Reginald Cawcutt was appointed as the first permanent force naval chaplain, continuing the traditional link between the church and sailors based at Simon's Town. Picture: Simon’s Town Museum

The triptych window, consisting of three panels, was installed in the Catholic Church of Saint Simon and St Jude in 1977. It was based on a new process using a perspex acrylic sheet without lead framing. It shows Christ watching over seaman at the wheel, symbolic of the navy which protect us.

Palace Barracks is thought to have been built and added to over time, from around 1783-1785 according to the Simon’s Town Museum. The property was bought by Eric Gustav Aspeling and Johan Gustav Volmer in 1786.Robert Rowe bought the property in 1802 and named it Mount Curtis in honour of Vice Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, commander in chief of the Royal Navy at the Cape of Good Hope. His flagship was HMS Lancaster, and John Osmond, who later bought Mount Curtis, had arrived aboard the same ship in 1799, as a shipwright.The building went through a succession of owners, with Nicolas Hendrik Sertyn being one of them, and around 1808, he hosted a very interesting visitor. He was Vasilii Mihailovich Golovnin, the commanding officer of the Imperial Russian sloop, Diana, which had been detained by the Royal Navy in Simon’s Bay in 1808, until her escape a year later. It is thought that Sertyn allowed Golovnin to set up an observatory at Mount Curtis. Mount Curtis was purchased in 1812 by John Osmond, who had become so wealthy and successful, that he was known as King John. Consequently the building became known as “The Palace”. He died in 1847 leaving The Palace to his only remaining daughter, Agnes, who died in 1849. The building’s next owner was William Coghill. After his death in 1887, the building became the property of the War Department and is marked as “infantry barracks” on contemporaneous plans. By 1898, Palace Barracks continued to serve as the headquarters of the Royal Engineers. After the defeat of the Boers at Paardeberg in February 1900, General Pieter Arnoldus Cronje and his remaining men, were taken prisoner and brought to Simon’s Town. Many were suffering from typhoid fever and Palace Barracks was hastily converted into a hospital for the sick and dying, with Mary Kingsley their most famous nurse. From 1903, Palace Barracks became the headquarters of the Royal Garrison Artillery. The building served as the quarters for the Cape Garrison Artillery during both world wars. When the Royal Navy handed over the Simon’s Town Naval Base, Palace Barracks served naval officers and senior rates over the succeeding decades as alternatively a private residence, or as an officers’ wardroom and mess. Picture: Simon’s Town Museum.

When the mess transferred to Fish Hoek in 1997, Palace Barracks became the responsibility of the Department of Public Works. With no plan to maintain the building, it fell into a state of disrepair and became vandalised. In 2004, the northern wing of Palace Barracks collapsed during a winter storm. Public Works eventually agreed to the restoration of the building, which took place under the well-known architect, Gawie Fagan, and the work was completed by the end of 2006. The chief of the navy, Vice Admiral Refiloe Johannes Mudima, was the first occupant. In September 2022, the northern side of Palace Barracks gave way once more and, to date, it remains in a state of collapse.

The interior of St Francis of Assisi, the oldest Anglican Church in South Africa, during the mid-1900s. The first Anglican Church in Simon's Town was built opposite Jubilee Square in 1814, and was named St George. When the church suffered heavy storm damage in 1819, Admiral Sir Jaheel Brenton offered the sail loft in the west dockyard as a temporary solution. In 1824, a storm caused irreparable damage and the sail loft was used again, and, in 1830, the congregation hired the Wesleyan Chapel. Rev H Fraser began raising funds for a new church, which was opened in the 1837. It was named St Frances after Lady Frances Cole, the governor's wife, for her fund-raising contributions. The name changed to St Francis of Assisi in 1958. Picture: Simon’s Town Museum

A recent photograph of the interior of St Francis of Assisi Church.

Then and now: Simon’s Town