The garden, vineyard and orchards of the Drostdy created the impression of a stately manor on a farmland estate. The corner plot is all that remains of the once magnificent garden that supplied the households of the Drostdy and other officials, as well as the inmates of the gaol, with a wide range of fruit, vegetables, herbs and staples.
As a reminder of the injustices of slavery, slave bells are found on the grounds of most old colonial homesteads. Slavery was finally abolished at the Cape in 1834.