“Clooff Pas” was the name Jan Van Riebeeck gave Constantia Nek when he crossed it on 23rd March 1657. He considered that it would be difficult to fortify against the Hottentots because of it’s width. Two years later, on 7th March 1659, Van Riebeeck actually sent eleven men to hold the pass for a few days against a threatened Hottentot incursion.

The Nek became the collecting link between Hout Bay and the settlement, and a rough road came into being. When the French arrived to defend the Cape in 1781 against a threatened English invasion, Constantia Nek was one of the areas fortified. The road was dug up and an earthen fort was erected, the remains of which can still be seen not far from the restaurant. The fort was named the Conway Redoubt, after Colonel Thomas Conway, an Irishman who commanded the Pondicherry Regiment at the Cape. Here the French troops waited for the attack that never came. A signaling station was also set up at Constantia Nek to give warning of ships entering Hout Bay. The peak behind the restaurant now called Vlakkenberg, was originally called Vlagenberg (Flag Mountain).

The summit of the Nek was an obvious resting point on the road to Hout Bay and as early as 1811 the land was leased, probably to furnish sustenance to travelers. The land changed hands a number of times till April 1923 Sydney Vincent Halls became the owner and the property was broken up. Halls set up a farm stall in the Nek and a couple of years later built the present “Candle Room” in which teas were served. In due course it was extended into the present sumptuous restaurant.

Jose Burman