Grand colonial edifices, university buildings, the 19th-century Anglican cathedral and colourful Victorian and Edwardian shopfronts all overlook this square. Good examples of the latter are the Grocott’s Mail building, the original home of South Africa's oldest independent newspaper, and the neighbouring Clicks pharmacy.
Birch’s has a marvellously old-fashioned ‘slider’ (a pulley system that sends money and change across the ceiling to and from the central till) and a vacuum pipe system used to send notes between floors. Staff will demonstrate the slider if you ask nicely.
