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History: On an erf in Viljoen Street, Lydenburg, is found this old powder magazine, a reminder of the stormy eighties. At the beginning of 1878 there was an outbreak of conflict between the British rulers of the Transvaal and the Bapedi tribe under Sekukuni. It promised to become a long drawn-out struggle. Because Lydenburg was situated almost in the centre of the arena of war, some regiment or other was always stationed here. When the fighting reached a climax by November, 1879, the 94th Regiment played a major role in subduing Sekukuni At the Close of hostilities a division of this regiment under Command of Colonel R. P. Anstrutlier
was stationed here. When the First War of Independence broke out in 1880, a part of this garrison commanded by Anstruther was ordered to Pretoria. The remainder of the 94th regiment in Lydenburg was placed under command of Second Lieutenant Long, a young man of 22 years. A short distance outside the town and about 200 metres from Sterksprujt, Long established a defence post which he called Fort Mary.
At the end of the war this fort was evacuated Up to this time Lydenburg did not have a powder magazine and there were complaints that storing ammunition, gunpowder and dynamite at the magistrate’s offices was very dangerous In December, 1883, the government signed a contract for the building of a powder magazine.’ For this purpose stones from Fort Mary were used. On some of these stones the names of British soldiers had been carved and this in later years gave rise to the mistaken belief that the powder magazine was built by Anstruther during the First War of Independence. Apart from the powder magazine, stonesi from Fort Mary are found also in the walls of a house in Viljoen Street.
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Construction Date: 1880c
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