SALDANHA EMF: WEST COAST PROVINCIAL HERITAGE SITES
(Source: Historic Sites of South Africa, Deirdré Richardson. Struik 2001)
Note: Not all these sites may fall into Study Area
LANGEBAAN
DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH AND PULPIT (OOSTERWAL STREET)
The church, with its neogothic features, was donated in 1872 as a chapel of ease to the
Parish of Hopefield by a member of the congregation, William van der Byl. The building was
taken into use on 1 April 1872. The yellowwood pulpit was made in 1721 by Adam Albertyn,
progenitor of the Albertyn family in South Africa, for the Dutch Reformed Church in
Stellenbosch. It was donated to the Zoutrivier (now Hopefield) congregation in 1853, from
where it was transferred by ox-wagon to the Langebaan church in 1878. It is undoubtedly the
oldest existing pulpit in South Africa.
OESTERWAL
Bordering on the Langebaan Lagoon, t he farm Oesterwal, with its springs of fresh water was
a favourite port of call for ships and vessels during the seventeenth and ei ghteenth centuries
as this was the only source of fresh water in the area. The house and adjacent outbuildings,
which date from the eighteenth century, served as the Colonial Residency for the Saldanha
Bay area from 1821 to 1849. The homestead, w hich has since been subdivided, was restored
in 1960 and named Oesterwal.
VOC BEACON (FARM GEELBEK)
This black slate stone beacon with the inscription 'G.V.O.C.' chiselled thereon was
presumably erected in 1785 by Governor Cornelis Jacobus van der Graaff to indicate the
western boundary of the Cape.
MALMESBURY
BOKKERIVIER FARM (BOKBAAI)
The farm Bokke Rivier is world renowned for the Bokbaaivygies, nemesias and a wealth of
other flowers and wildlife that flourish there. The farm buildings of Buck Bay are of
outstanding historic and aesthetic values.
CAPE DUTCH HOUSE (FARM LANGRIETVLEI)
This T-shaped Cape Dutch house, with its impressive concavo-convex gables, was probably
erected in 1789. At that time the property belonged to Jacob Laubscher, who, according to
Lichtenstein, was one of the most prosperous men in the colony.
COMMUNION WELL
(SITUATED IN THE PREMISES OF LEWIS STORES)
This well is one of three similar wells erected in 1751 for the use of communicants on the
Church Square adjoining the original church at Malmesbury. It is now exhibited in this store.
DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH BUILDING AND RING WALL (CHURCH STREET)
This neogothic church building was officially opened on 13 September 1860. The t ower,
which was added in 1864, collapsed in 1877, and was rebuilt in 1880. The church is closely
associated with the establishment of the Swartland congregation, as well as the founding of
the town of Malmesbury itself.
EASTERN TERMINAL POINT BEACON (EENDRAG FARM)
One of the tasks undertaken between 1841 and 1848 by Sir Thomas Maclear, the astronomer
at the Cape, was to survey an area from Cape Agulhas to Namaqualand for the purpose of
determining the size and shape of the earth. Several of his beacons, which were stone
pyramids, were later replaced by standard concrete pillars and incorporated in the
trigonometrical survey of South Africa. This beacon is the Zwartland baseline survey.
GEELBEK HOMESTEAD (FARM GEELBEK)
Geelbekfontein, now known as Geelbek, was originally a quitrent farm and was used for
several years as a livestock station by the Cape brandy retailer, S Verwey. Geelbek was
granted to his widow Aletta van As after his death in 1744. The homestead is thought to have
been erected by Alexander van Breda, as the initials 'AvB' and the date '1860' appear on the
front gable. The main house now forms part of an extended farmyard that has been restored
and rehabilitated as part of the West Coast National Park.
KLAVERVALLEI FARM (DISTRICT)
This farm is closely associated with the establishment of the wool industry in South Africa in
the late eighteenth century. In 1795 S Valentyn came to Klavervallei with two pure-bred
Spanish merino rams, where he conducted breeding experiments with Cape ewes. The
homestead is an incomplete H-shape, but different stages of development are still visible; the
main T-shaped section certainly predates the 1815 grant of the farm to W Duckitt.
LANGEBAAN ROAD FOSSIL SITE (FARM LANGEBERG, DISTRICT)
The Langebaanweg quarry preserves a wider range of mammals than any other fossil site of
similar age in the world. The Varswater section yielded 200 vertebrate and invertebrate
species and a further 100 species have been identified from other parts of the mine. The
fossils were first discovered in the course of phosphate mining operations in the late 1950s.
Professor R Singer and later, Dr QB Hendey arranged that the fossils be removed by hand
from the excavated material. During the 1960s and 1970s Dr Hendey undertook controlled
excavations and published a number of sc ientific papers describing the fossils.
MUSEUM (1 PROSPECT STREET)
Designed by architect B Goldman, this building was built in 1911 as a synagogue after the
local Jewish community established the Malmesbury Ohel Jacob congregation in 1904. It was
later transferred to the municipality as the museum of local history, and the contribution of the
Jewish community is portrayed here.
NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH (CNR VOORTREKKER ROAD AND RAINER STREET)
This neogothic church, designed by Sophia Gray and consecrated in 1859 by Bishop Robert
Gray, served the Anglican community until 1975 when a new church was consecrated in
Wesbank. The property was sold to the New Apostolic Church.
VICTORIAN DOUBLE-STOREY HOMESTEAD (14 FAURE STREET)
This magnificent Victorian double-storey house was built at the turn of the nineteenth century
with material imported from abroad.
MAMRE
MORAVIAN MISSION STATION
The site includes the school building, the old farmhouse (the 'Langehuis'), the storekeeper's
house, a store, a shop, t he church and the historic section of the present school. This mission
station is an important place of interest both because of its history and its architectural beauty.
It was founded in 1808 by Moravian missionaries on the site occupied by the Dutch East India
Company's military outpost, 't Groenekloof, from 1701-1791. The original buildings are
virtually unaltered, the old farmhouse (now a parsonage) still has its 'holbol' (concavo-convex)
gable and thatched roof, and certainly predates 1770. The original gable of the church
building bears the date 1818, but was slightly altered later. The restored old mission store is
now a restaurant.
WATERMILL
The historic water mill, dating from about 1840, is an important part of the existing building
complex. It was restored and is now a museum.
VELDDRIFT
HISTORIC HOMESTEAD AND OUTBUILDINGS (FARM KERSEFONTEIN, BERG RIVER
STATION)
The quitrent farm Kersefontein was granted to J Kruiwagen on 24 November 1744 and on 13
August 1770 it became the property of Martin Melck, whose family have owned it ever since.
The traditional farmstead, with its Cape Dutch dwelling encompasses a variety of outbuildings
(foundry, bakery, guest house, coach house, granary, dower house containing a store, hen
house and old stables, bell tower) and stables at the southern end of the farmyard. These
outbuildings point, among other things, to an era when the farm was a leading stud farm and
when horses used by the Green Point Tramway Company, were obtained from Kersefontein
SALDANHA
FISHERMEN'S COTTAGES
These three oval-shaped cottages were built by George Goode-Busch I in 1918 and are, the
only remaining fishermen's cottages of this type in the vicinity of Saldanha.
DARLING
GROOTE POST FARM
In 1752 Groote Post w as already one of the largest and most important farms in the vicinity at
Malmesbury. The impressive homestead and outbuildings date from the early nineteenth
century and from 1814 1827 it was the country house of Lord Charles Somerset. The farm
was divided into seven sections in 1827 after which the section with the main homestead
named Groote Post, bel onged to several well-known families such as the Versters and the
Duckitts.
ZWARTLAND SURVEY BEACON (FARM KLIPVLEI)
The pyramid-shaped, sandstone beac on with a mounted platinum pin forms the Western
Point of Sir Thomas Maclears' Zwartland Survey Base Line, laid in 1840 to 1841. It is closely
associated with the development of surveying in South Africa.
Compiled by: UDS – January 2010