The details
The Simon’s Town Museum is housed in The Residency, which was built in 1777 as the winter residence for the Dutch East India Company Governor at the Cape. The museum was established in 1977 by the Simon's Town Historical Society, and depicts the history of the local community, both past and present. The emphasis is on the diversity of origins, cultures and religions.
An Early History Room showcases artefacts of the early inhabitants of the area, and there’s plenty more to be seen in a Churches, Schools, Hospitals & Cemeteries Room; a Military Room, and a People of Simon's Town Room, which hones in on the forced removals that took place under the Group Areas Act.
Other collections include a Shipwreck Room; an Able Seaman Just Nuisance Room; a Royal Navy Room; and the Gerry Read Lecture Hall which features a doll's house collection and displays of royal personages and political leaders who have visited Simon’s Town over the years. The building also has a lower level with cells and stocks, which were mostly used to punish women.