Treaty Tree


The Treaty Tree is a 500-year-old white milkwood tree on Treaty Road and south of the rail line in Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa. Peace was made under the tree on 10 January 1806 after the Battle of Blaauwberg, thereby starting the second British occupation of the Cape and leading to the permanent establishment of the Cape Colony as a British possession. Until 1834 slaves were sold and convicts hanged under it.
Prior to the arrival of the Dutch, the tree was known to have been a feature of the local landscape since at least the early 1500s. In 1509 a massacre by Khoikhoi of 64 Portuguese sailors under the command of Dom Francisco de Almeida took place close to the tree.

Protection

The City of Cape Town owns the property, and the tree was declared a monument in 1967.