Old Mast House & Sail Loft

These buildings are situated in the West Dockyard and house the South African Naval Museum and St George's Church; the Museum is open to the public during the advertised opening hours.
It was not until 1814 that the building now known as the Mast House and Sail Loft were built by Sir Jahleel Brenton. The length was such that it could accommodate the largest of masts off the ships that would call at Simon's Town while the sail loft could handle any repair as these were merely hoisted up to the second floor of the building. The Boat House has almost exactly the same length as the Mast House. The Clock Tower was completed at the same time as the rest of the building and the clock, the oldest public clock in SA still in good working order, has been serving the Town for the past 200 years.
Church services were held in the Sail Loft until 1935 when the Church took over on a permanent basis. The stained glass windows over the altar are the work of the late James Hogan of Whitefriars Glassworks UK who constructed the large windows in Liverpool Cathedral after the bombing of WW2

STHS