Mossel Bay Pieter se Grot Cave

At Ou Kasteel, a man named Pieter was found lying in the sun on the rocks in front of a 5m high by 3m wide cave entrance. He was not a very talkative fellow, but did tell his name, that he lived in the cave, and that he did not know its name. He then rolled over and thus terminated the brief conversation.

The cave is situated next to a stream coming down from the cliffs, is well above the current sea level, and the end of the cave is dry and draught free. These features must have attracted Pieter to his abode, as the rubbish and filth in the cave, and the cold, sharp rocky floor certainly do not make the place feel very homely.

The cave is a straight slot, parallel to the coastline, approximately 50m long, 3m wide and 4m high. At the cave entrance, well-rounded rocks cover the floor, while further in the rocks have sharp edges — probably remnants of the section of bedding plane that was removed to form the cave.

About a kilometre further along the coast is a smaller version of Pieter se Grot called Battered Barrel Cave. This slot is about 47m long and less than 1.5m wide on average, with a much higher ceiling. The entrance is very close to the high tide mark and the cave floor is probably flooded during high seas, as evidenced by the battered 44-gallon drum wedged inside. A slab has come loose from the southern wall and fallen against the northern wall — the remains of the bed that was removed to form the cave.

The surveys of both caves were drawn in situ, but passage lengths were measured in paces and other distances estimated.

Peter Swart and Anthony Hitchcock, February 1998

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