Jonkershoek Mountains

The Jonkershoek Mountains enclosed a valley east of Stellenbosch, where steep slopes restricted grazing and settlement to more accessible ground. Before colonial farms spread through the valley, Khoekhoe herders moved through the wider Stellenbosch country with their livestock. Their seasonal routes and grazing belonged to a landscape later divided into irrigable farm grants.

During the 1680s and 1690s, landholding along the Eerste River included both European settlers and people freed from slavery. Jan Andriessen, known as Jan de Jonker, received the property that gave Jonkershoek its name; the recorded grant was renewed in 1692. Nearby holdings belonged to Manuel and Anthony of Angola, Louis of Bengal, and Marquart and Jan of Ceylon. Vines, grain, sheep and cattle appeared in the farm returns. These records describe the valley beneath the mountains, where irrigation and colonial property boundaries reshaped access to land, while the surrounding heights continued to define the catchment and its limited cultivable space.