Fields Hill is the steep section of the M13 (King Cetshwayo Highway) linking Pinetown with the Upper Highway suburbs (Kloof, Gillitts, etc.) in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal. It was named after early settler John Coote Field (and the Field family), whose large Richmond farm (originally part of Tafelberg) covered much of the present-day Kloof area from the mid-19th century. The family established a presence there by the mid-1840s–early 1850s; a house and outbuildings occupied by John Field were noted on inspection in 1847, and the original Richmond House farmstead was built by J.C. Field around 1854 (replacing an earlier structure). Later family members subdivided the land, and parts of the original homestead were altered or rebuilt.
Key points on the hotel and related structures:
- The Fields Hill Hotel opened in 1922. When the modern shopping centre was developed on the site in 1996 (by John Padley Field), the old hotel’s front facade was retained as a deliberate historical feature.
- This makes the surviving facade one of the more prominent and publicly visible historic elements tied specifically to the Fields Hill location and name.
- Other nearby or hill-associated buildings of note are later: Capricorn (also called the Glass House, Spookhuis/Round House), a distinctive mansion built in 1936 by Georgia Anna Boediker (later Gale, known locally as “Shanghai Lil”) on the left when descending the hill. It featured imported materials, a large domed mirror/round room, elaborate interiors, and extensive gardens with pools; it later saw various uses (including restaurant and offices) and attracted local legends. Heyfields (an Art Deco house in Kloof, 1935) was noted as one of the few double-storey buildings in the area at the time, alongside the Fields Hotel.
- Earlier railway-related structures (e.g., the original Krantzkloof/Kloof station area from the 1890s–1920s, rebuilt later) and farm remnants exist in the broader vicinity, but continuous, clearly identified pre-1920s buildings still standing on the Fields Hill stretch itself are less prominently documented in readily available sources. A renovated older home at Hilton on Fields (just off the hill) preserves some original features and sits on land with a very old aloe, but it is not singled out as the oldest.
In short, while the Field family’s mid-19th-century farmstead represents the earliest European settlement layer in the area, the most identifiable surviving historic building fabric on Fields Hill that is routinely highlighted is the 1922 hotel facade incorporated into the shopping centre. Local heritage interest also focuses on Capricorn for its distinctive 1930s character and stories. For precise current status, heritage listings, or access, checking with Amafa/Heritage KwaZulu-Natal or local resources such as the Kloof Conservancy / Highway Heritage Society would be useful, as private or altered properties can change.
