The Donkin Heritage Trail is a 5 km self-guided walking trail along the old hill of central Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The Donkin Heritage Trail is named after the acting Governor of the Cape Colony, Rufane Shaw Donkin.
The trail links 51 places of historical interest and showcases settler history from as early as 1820. Sites include groups of double-storey semi-detached houses with prominent Victorian and Georgian features. These were erected shortly after the turn of the 20th century. It consists of five residences in Donkin Street, facing onto the Donkin Reserve. One of the residential homes is located at 14 Constitution Street and two others located at 8 and 10 Whitlock Street. The Donkin Street complex forms a notable row of terrace houses, and is one of the city's most prominent landmarks. Many of the landmarks have been declared national monuments.
Places on the Donkin Heritage Trail
Main Library
The Main Library building with Victorian Gothic architecture, is on the corner of Market Square.
Queen Victoria Statue
A marble statue of Queen Victoria stands at the entrance of the library.
Market Square
The trail begins at this site, the centrepiece of the Market Square is the City Hall. There is a replica of the Diaz Cross, commemorating the first European to sail into Algoa Bay in 1488.
City Hall
The City Hall is central to the Market square and dates back to 1858.
Prester John Memorial
The Prester John Memorial is a Coptic Cross with two figures inside it. It commemorates the Portuguese explorers who discovered South Africa as well as the story of a far older mythical figure named Prester John. Between the 12th and 18th centuries Prester John was believed to have been an early Christian King and one of the descendants of the Three Magi of Christian belief. He was the ‘patron’ of Christian exploration of the world and is seen as ‘a symbol to European Christians of the Church’s universality, transcending culture and geography to encompass all humanity’ and therefore a figurehead for Portuguese sailors and explorers.
Campanile
The Campanile is a 120-foot bell tower, which was built in the 1920s to commemorate the 1820 Settlers. The first proposal for a memorial tower to commemorate the landing of the British Settlers of 1820, was made in 1904 by the Reverend Alfred E Hall, a minister of the Queen Street Baptist Church. On 9 April 1921, the foundation stone of the Campanile was laid by H R H Prince Arthur of Connaught, governor of the Union of South Africa. On 10 March 1922, the design for the Campanile was approved and the contract for building the structure was subsequently awarded on 18 March 1922 to a local firm of builders, Harris and Harrower Limited. The tender was worth £6 150. It took approximately 18 months to complete the campanile. The dressed stone, used to construct the base, was taken from some of the oldest buildings in the city and the arched main doorway was built of stone quarried in Grahamstown. The tower is made of brick and reinforced with concrete. Each brick went through a quality test before being used. The structure, both base and belfry, is made of local brick faced with smooth, red Grahamstown bricks. The roof tiles were also obtained from Grahamstown.
Architecturally, the Campanile is well-proportioned, lofty and slender and simple. The structure is reminiscent of the famous St Mark's Campanile in Venice, which is 320 feet high. The Campanile in Port Elizabeth is 170 feet high from ground level to the tip of the pyramid roof. The area of the structure at the base is 23 feet square, its foundation resting upon sea-worn rock. The windows at different floor levels are fitted with decorative precast concrete grilles and the belfry. There are eight floors within the tower and to reach the observation floor, which is approximately 136 feet above the floor level of the reception area, the visitor has to climb 204 steps. The frieze of the reception area is artistically inscribed with brief details of the events connected with the erection of the Campanile.
The tower was erected at a final cost of £5 940, but there was neither clock nor bells for the proposed carillon, so that fund-raising was started for that purpose. The largest bell in the carillon is about 6 feet in diameter and weighs between three and four tons. The bells were hoisted into position in the belfry during July 1936 and the first recital on the carillon was given on 9 September by Lionel Field, Mus Bac, ARCM.