| Woodstock | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Western Cape#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -33.9306°N 18.4472°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Western Cape |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | City of Cape Town |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Subdivision Name4: | Cape Town |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Party: | DA |
| Leader Title: | Councillor (Ward 57) |
| Leader Name: | Yusuf Mohamed |
| Leader Title1: | Councillor (Ward 115) |
| Leader Name1: | Ian McMahon (DA) |
| Leader Title2: | Councillor (Ward 55) |
| Leader Name2: | Fabian Ah-Sing (DA) |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 3.10 |
| Population Total: | 9345 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 29.1% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 50.9% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 2.8% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 11.6% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 5.6% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | English |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 63.8% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 18.1% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | Xhosa |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 2.0% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 16.0% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 7925 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 7915 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 021 |
| Nickname: | "Little Madeira" |
Woodstock is one of the earliest suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, between the docks of Table Bay and the lower slopes of Devil's Peak, about 1km (01miles) east of the city centre of Cape Town. Woodstock is served by Woodstock and Esplanade railway stations, and has the postal code 7925 for street addresses and 7915 for post office box deliveries.
The area was inhabited by Khoikhoi until the arrival of Dutch in the 1600s. Three freehold farms (Zonnebloem, Leliebloem and Roodebloem) were established on the slopes of Devils Peak in 1692 and as the area became populated it became known as Papendorp - after Pieter van Papendorp, who had settled in the area during the mid-eighteenth century. By the middle of the 19th century, especially after the arrival of the railway line, Woodstock had become a fashionable seaside suburb with cottages next to the sea and a beach which stretched until the Castle of Good Hope. In the age of sail a number of violent storms led to many spectacular shipwrecks along the beach. After a brief stint as New Brighton the residents voted in 1867 at the Woodstock Hotel to change the area’s name to Woodstock.[2]
During the 1870s with the subdivision of the old farms for low cost housing, Woodstock began to grow so rapidly that by 1884, less than a year after becoming a separate municipality, Woodstock was the third largest ‘town’ in the country. Ease of access to the harbour; improved transport; increased industrialisation and a rapidly growing working class population meant that the massive demand for supplies from the British troops during the First and Second Anglo-Boer Wars (1881 and 1899-1902) could be met, and industrial activity flourished, permanently changing the nature of the suburb. Of the industrial activity it is worth noting that the first glass manufactured in South Africa was made at the Woodstock Glass Factory in 1879.
With the massive land reclamation of Table Bay in the 1950s to create the Cape Town foreshore Woodstock beach was lost, and combined with the increasingly industrial nature of the suburb, Woodstock ceased to be a seaside resort. Woodstock however managed to remain integrated during Apartheid and survived being declared a ‘whites only’ area with the attendant forced removals and demolition of houses as happened in nearby District Six. As a ‘grey’ area, many coloured and black people started to move into Woodstock during the 1970s and 1980s, laying the foundation for the urban renewal which was to start in the late 1990s.
Woodstock also became the first suburb in the city where a distinct Portuguese, ethnic community developed.[3] The Portuguese population in the city increased from 228 immigrants in 1936 to 1649 immigrants by 1970.[3] A total of 675 of these immigrants, coming from Madeira, settled in Woodstock between 1940-1980, and the area earned the nickname "Little Madeira."[3] Portuguese fishermen first settled in the suburb in the 1930s and became known as the "pioneers" of the Portuguese diaspora in the Cape. They chose to settled in Woodstock for its location close to the harbour and for its relative affordability.[3]
Notwithstanding the lower parts of Woodstock becoming run down in the second half of the 20th century, with litter, crime and drugs becoming a serious issue, the face of Woodstock has changed dramatically over the last decade. Young professionals have been quick to take advantage of still affordable pretty Victorian semi-detached homes, many of which have been beautifully renovated and restored. Restaurants, media and other businesses, offices, shops and furniture showrooms have sprung up in converted and revamped warehouses, abandoned buildings and even a disused Castle Brewery.[4]
The Woodstock municipal council adopted a pseudo-heraldic coat of arms, designed by Mr St Vincent Cripps, in February 1892.[5] The shield was divided horizontally, the upper half depicting a sinking sailing ship and the lower half a man on horseback riding into the sea (both evidently referring to Wolraad Woltemade's heroic sea rescue efforts in 1773. The crest was a dolphin entwined around a crowned anchor; the supporters were two lions (one upright, the other doing a handstand(!)); and the motto was Per mare per terras.