Noon Gun
Noon Gun stands on Signal Hill above Cape Town Harbour, close to the city centre. This historic time signal has operated there since 1806. Two black-powder Dutch naval guns face the harbour, with one firing while the other remains ready as a reserve.
Captain Thomas Blomfield designed the 18-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loaders in 1786. Walker & Co. cast them in early 1794. British forces brought the guns to Cape Town in 1795, after taking control of the Cape Colony from the Dutch East India Company. They first formed part of the Imhoff Battery at the Castle, then moved to the Lion Battery on Signal Hill in 1902. Their first task was announcing ships entering the harbour, helping residents prepare provisions.
As communication improved, the guns became a precise public time signal for the city. Since 1864, the master clock of the South African Astronomical Observatory has controlled the firing. Ships once checked their marine chronometers by watching the smoke, because sound travelled too slowly for accurate timing. In 1895, a spider disrupted the relay and caused one firing to happen early.
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