Kowie’s Old Mill is changing hands for the 10th time since the historic three-storey building was handed over to harbour developer William Cock as the Kowie Steam Mill in 1849.
In the late 90s, its then owners renovated the Port Alfred icon, ensuring it kept its historic character.
Inside those solid walls (600mm thick!) are features that include beautiful yellowwood floors and stairwell, a fitted kitchen and three bedrooms.
The adjacent cottage, part of the property, has another three bedrooms and was also beautifully renovated.
The entire property has possibly the best views in town of the river and, beyond the river mouth, the ocean.
“It’s not so much about the sale, as who the new guardians of the building are,” said at Lew Geffen Sothebys International Realty – Port Alfred agent, Mauineen Charter. “Making sure it went to someone who respects its history was very important to me: I am passionate about the area, and its history, so for me finding the right people has been the real achievement.”.
The names of the buyers are still under wraps for now – butwhat agent Mauneen Charter did say was that they are young professionals.
“He used to pass the Old Mill often and he said that one day, he would like to own it,” Charter said. “And that’s just what he’s done.
“They love history, they love everything about the Kowie, they love the river and they are going to do everything in their power to keep as close to the original style and fittings as they can.”
Manager at Lew Geffen Sothebys International Realty – Port Alfred, Antony de Bruin, said, “I am extremely proud of Mauneen who negotiated for over two years with the relevant parties to conclude the sale of this iconic landmark.”
Cock’s Steam Mill on the west bank of the Kowie
This excerpt from Cock Tales on the Kowie’ (2020) by Sue Gordon fills in some of the background of the Old Mill.
We know that in anticipation of an improved port, William Cock bought up land west of the Kowie hoping to create a separate township.
William Cock has been lauded for having ‘brought the Industrial Revolution to the Eastern Cape’ – no doubt an indirect reference to the steam-powered mill he built in 1849 on the west bank of the Kowie River. This square, three-storey building with a grinding mill powered by a stationary steam engine 1 (rather than a waterwheel) must have been a big attraction on the west bank.
The construction on Erf 352 was known as Cock’s Mill, East Coast Steam Mill or the Kowie Steam Mill. It included ‘Mary’s Wharf’ for ships offloading or loading up grain or flour. A well which can still be found behind today’s Ferryman Hotel, provided fresh water. William Frederic Cock (the eldest son, then aged 34, who some say designed and built the Mill) retired from his other activities elsewhere in the Cape to run the mill as WF Cock & Company. By July 1850 the Mill was ready to grind corn and did so successfully for many years, offering ‘American’ flour, bran, seed oats and wheat through the 1850s.
There was regular correspondence between father and son. William Cock Snr was then based in Grahamstown but he closely monitored activities at the Mill. By 1857 a baker had been employed to work at the Mill. (8) and (22)
From 1889 to 1916 the owners of the Mill on Erf 352 were Peter Pote (who had also acquired Richmond House in 1876), Duncan & James McLaren (1904) and Douglas James Smith (1915). (11) (22)
By 1911 the Mill had become an empty shell stripped of its floors and ceilings; Mrs Iris Holloway and her sister Sheila Wilson recall playing there circa 1914 on the ladders and beams with their brother Henry Vroom. 1911 the Mill had become an empty shell stripped of its floors and ceilings; Mrs Iris Holloway and her sister Sheila Wilson recall playing there circa 1914 on the ladders and beams with their brother Henry Vroom.
The Mill was then sold to Edwin Jake Adcock (1916). The Mill Cottage, Erf 355, which had been built around 1906 next to the Mill was sold by Adcock to Rupert Smith in 1924. Smith and family lived in the Mill Cottage and ran a general dealers’ shop on the ground floor of the Mill from 1924 to 1933.
Walter Henry Vroom was the next owner (1933). He let the ground floor of the Mill to Maurice Leventhal, who continued the general dealer business until the war in 1940. Maurice’s parents owned Port Alfred’s Victoria Hotel for many years.
Vroom let the cottage to various tenants, including Prof. F Armstrong, retired Principal of the School of Art Rhodes University College, who used the ground floor to prepare drawings for the Bulawayo old City Hall mural. These depicted life-size figures of, inter alia, Cecil John Rhodes and Chief Lobengula signing the treaty of Rhodesia.
During the Second World War the Mill served as an annex to Cove Mansions Hotel (today’s Ferryman’s). Vroom converted the Mill into two family-sized flats. Further alterations were made during the 1940s to make the structure a comfortable dwelling for Walter’s son Henry James Vroom and family.**
Vroom’s sister Rebecca lived on the top floor until his death in 1964, when the Mill was bought by Doris Howes, a descendant of the Damant 1820 settler after whom Port Alfred’s first senior citizen home was named. She lived on the ground floor, rented out the upper section, then sold it in 1969 to George Thord-Gray. His widow Jean continued to live on the top floor of the mill until 1985 when she sold the property to the EW Rohrs Trust.
The McDonalds bought it in 1987 and by 1996 had lovingly restored both the Mill and Mill Cottage. They took great care to preserve original elements, such as the steam boiler, the original roof beams and the 600mm walls of the square structure remain intact.
The property changed hands once more in 2001, when the Greyling family bought it. They too have displayed the heritage of the site to best advantage and have undertaken renovations (eg replacing the jetty as well as some bathroom and kitchen fittings). The original features remaining are still the walls, beams and boilers. It continues to be a private residence and important landmark in the region.
- Pictures and text from: Cock Tales on the Kowie’ (2020) by Sue Gordon. Unfortunately copies are not currently available: “It sold out two years ago,” Gordon told Talk of the Town. “A reprint is likely, but not anytime soon.”
- This article first appeared in TALK OF THE TOWN – the community newspaper for Ndlambe and Makhanda, in supermarkets and other outlets every Thursday.
