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Date: 1930 : 1960 Type: Public Park Status: Extant   Click to view large map Coordinates: 25°44'43.44" S 28°14'08.90" E Alt: 1371m

See more photographs The suburb Hatfield was first established on a farm called “koedoespoort 299” (NMC.1979) which in 1885 was sold to the Wesleyan Methodist Society who aided the Anglo Boer War with a hospital camp on the grounds. After the war in 1903 a portion of land was sold to the Colonial Secretary of Transvaal, Patrick Duncan, the new suburb was named after an estate, Herfordshire, in England which belonged to the Second Earl of Selbourne who was appointed Governor of Trasvaal in 1905 (City of Tshwane). Springbok Park, which was originally named Grosvenor Square was conceived in 1905, developed only in the 1930’s and became Sprinbok Park in the 1960s (City of Tshwane). The natural flora described in the region is as Rocky Highveld Grassland or Bankenveld (Brown et al.2003.7–26) Central variation (Du Plessis.2003). The Park was declared a National Monument on 21 September 1979, due to its purely indigenous flora, which was preserved from the original site as well as planted since the 1930s (NMC.1979). The Park is set out in an east-west orientation along its long axis approximately 220m and the short axis 140m north-south. The native fauna & flora that one encounters within this relatively small park, allows for fleeting moments of disconnect (or connection to nature) from the bustling city around you. One is always aware of the city scape around you due to the high-rise developments in the surrounding city blocks, but only if you allow yourself to look past the tree line. One is also reminded of the old Pretoria when moving closer to the periphery, such as on the south-western corner where one is instantly aware of the St Columba's Presbyterian Church (est. 1923) across the street. Also, the restaurant found on the north-eastern corner evokes the memory of an old Cape Dutch farmstead, which is usually the starting point of the stroll through the park – it becomes the reference point of the site. References: City of Tshwane Government website. Du Plessis, A. 2003. Chapter 3: Hatfield in context. University of Pretoria. National Monuments Council. 1979. Declaration of Springbok Park in Hatfield, Pretoria. (Prieur Ueckermann, August 2021)