Things to do in Somerset East
Horseback Game Trails
Abseiling
Bird Watching
Fishing
Mountain Biking
4x4
Rock Climbing
Awesome Gorge Glide
Hiking
Game Farms
Hunting Farms
Golf
Trout Fishing
Clay Pigeon Shooting
Fresh Water Fishing
Bestershoek Resort
11km Mountain Drive
Para-Gliding
Bosberg Nature Reserve
FOR INFORMATION ON THE ABOVE
CONTACT THE BLUE CRANE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY ON
042 243 0095
or
Things to see in Somerset East
Shortly after the establishment of the town, land on the slopes of the Bosberg was given to the Wesleyan missionaries for a chapel and a graveyard. The chapel was completed and consecrated in 1828, but the building and surrounding land was transferred to the Dutch Reformed Church a few years later and in 1835 the chapel was converted into a parsonage.
In the 105 years the building served as a parsonage, four ministers lived here: the reverends George Morgan (until 1841), John Pears (until 1866), Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (until 1908) and his son John Murray Hofmeyr. It was then sold to the latter's son, dr. Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr.
In 1971 KS Birch, then the owner, made the house available as a museum building and in 1972 it was proclaimed a province-aided museum. A few months later the building was declared a national monument, and during the festival celebrations of the town's 150th anniversary in 1975 the museum was inaugurated.
The Georgian house, at the foot of the Bosberg, stands serenely amongst tall indigenous trees and has magnificent rose gardens. The yellowwood beams and floors come from trees grown in the Bosberg. The former parsonage has been furnished with period pieces in the style popular towards the end of the nineteenth century.
The Somerset East Museum is unique in that it forms part of the Bosberg Nature Reserve.
Open: 08h00 - 17h00 weekdays
45 Paulet Street
In an official ceremony held in front of the white-gabled house in Paulet Street, Somerset East, in September 1981, Walter (Whall) Battiss bequeathed his collection of his own art works to "the people of Somerset East and South Africa". The two-storied house with its long, shaded verandah, lying peacefully asleep under the watchful gaze of the Bosberg Mountains, is a familiar landmark in the small Karoo town. Run by his family as a temperance hotel until 1914, it now functions as a gallery housing works executed by its gentle country son. The Walter Battiss art gallery was originally built in 1818 and served as an officers’ mess on "Somerset Farm".
"My father was a waterfall, my mother a butterfly" - is an often repeated phrase which Battiss first wrote in the preface to his book "Limpopo". "I found it easy for my father and the waterfall to be one and the same manifestation of paternal energy. My mother was small and flitted around, delicate yet super-mobile, the abstraction of a butterfly." Butterflies appear on innumerable occasions in the canvases and sketches produced throughout Battiss’ long and varied career.
In 1938 Battiss forged a lasting friendship with Pablo Picasso. When asked about the friendship, Battiss responded simply: "Because he was different to anyone else in his simplicity. A great artist is a very simple human being."
Later on Battiss turned to the Bushman art to find the "soul" of his paintings.
"Fook" was the imaginary world Battiss created out of the "island of his imagination". He himself was the loveable "King Ferd the Third," and the Fookian flag flew proudly in the garden of his Pretoria residence.
Walter Battiss was working at a winter retreat at Leisure Bay on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast when he was struck down by a heart attack. He died in Port Shepstone on 20 August 1982.
Open: 10h00 - 16h00
Hope Church, The Congregational Church of Somerset East (National Monument)
Paulet Street
Dorothy Evans was the widow of Rev. John Evans of Cradock. Shortly after her husband’s death and the proclamation of the town of Somerset in 1825, she settled in Somerset. She died in 1842 and is buried in the old graveyard behind the Somerset East Museum.
In her will, Dorothy Evans bequeathed to the London Missionary Society, “…her house and yard situated in Paulet Street…” In December 1842 the Superintendent of the Society’s Mission in South Africa applied to the Governor, Sir George Napier, for an allowance of twenty pounds per annum for the teacher of Coloured classes at Somerset. This was granted. A minister was sent to South Africa and shortly after, in 1844, a church for the Coloured Dutch-speaking Congregation was erected on Dorothy Evans’ yard. The London Missionary Society later became part of the Congregational Church.
(National Monument)
Paulet Street
Home of Dorothy Evans. After her death, the Hope Church used it as a Parsonage
(National Monument)
(formerly 41 Paulet Street)
This property was one of three dwellings to be declared a national monument in October 1983. Granted to one Robert Robinson, the lot was one of the first to be allocated immediately after the founding of the town Somerset, in April 1825. The building dates between 1825 and 1830.
(National
Monument)
(formerly 36 Paulet Street)
One of three national monuments to be declared in October 1983 and described as an “historic dwelling-house”, the property was originally granted to Jan Jonathan Durandt. The building dates between 1825 and 1830.
(National Monument)
(formerly 38 Paulet Street)
The third of a trio of properties to be declared national monuments in October 1983, the property was granted to William McDonald Mackay, the first and only Landdrost of Somerset. The property stretched from Paulet Street to Mackay Street. The building dates between 1825 and 1830.
Paulet Street
The William Oates School is named after Rev. William Oates of Grahamstown, initially a Wesleyan Minister and a South African, trained at Grahamstown, Somerset East and Lovedale. Rev. Oates resigned from the Hope Church, the Congregational Church of the Coloured Community, but rejoined the Ministry in 1868. He became Minister to the "Dutch-speaking congregational Church" at Somerset East in 1880 and remained in office until his death in 1927.
Arguably one of the most historically valuable buildings in Somerset East, it
was built in Cape Dutch style with the front of the house facing the town. The
building is thought by some to have been one of the original farmhouses (the
Trichardt’s) however it is almost certain that it was built by Robert Hart.
Hart, the second superintendent of Somerset Farm is said to have lived here
before the building became the Drostdy.
From
the stoep, Lord Charles Somerset surveyed Somerset Farm and declared the erven
for the town of Somerset in 1825. The building is sometimes incorrectly referred
to as one of Lord Charles Somerset’s hunting lodges. In fact, research shows
that the Governor only visited the area fleetingly on at the most, three
occasions.
The
building was used by the N.G. Kerk before the church in Nojoli Street was built.
Later it provided accommodation for circuit court judges. It was then used by
the N.G. Kerk.
Beaufort Street
In 1848, during his travels through the Eastern Cape, Bishop Gray of Cape Town paid a visit to Somerset. He was struck by the scarcity of clergymen having only seen one in 900 miles of travel in the Cape province.
He undertook to arrange for some 20 Anglican ministers to emigrate from England and because he believed that there were sufficient English settlers and other to support and Anglican Church, he promised to provide the area with a suitable Rector.
Some seven years later, this small Anglican Church along with Anglican Burial Ground (in Paulet Street) were consecrated (1855). The Chancel and the Vestry were added to the original building in 1883. The All Saints Church is noted for it's beautiful Memorial windows. Attempts are being made to declare the building a National Monument.
Beaufort Street
Two years after the foundation of the Voortrekker movement in South Africa, the founder meeting of the Voortrekkers of Somerset East took place (15 September 1933).
On 1 March 1935, a commission was instructed to negotiate the purchase of a building in Beaufort Street for the sum of 175 pounds. Building alterations have since taken place. Today the Voortrekkers are still very active and popular.
Old Post Box
Beaufort Street
The
old post box on the corner of Paulet and Beaufort Streets dates back to the time
of Queen Victoria’s reign.
Attempts are being made to declare the building a national monument so as to
create a historical core on all four of the corners, of the Paulet and Beaufort
Street intersection.
A
building at the back, which was the earliest blacksmith in town, was recently
demolished (by accident!).
Little Mill
(47) Paulet Street
Though to have been a
mill and one of the original buildings of Somerset Farm. Attempts are being made
to declare the site a national monument. This will contribute towards creating a
historical core consisting of all four corners of Paulet and Beaufort Street.
Paulet Street
In 1880 Somerset East boasted two small private schools for girls while boys were catered for by Gill College. The Rev. J.H. Hofmeyr persuaded the kerkraad of his church to build and finance a seminary for girls. A piece of ground in Paulet Street was acquired and on July 19, 1881, the foundation was laid. The building was designed by the architect Carl Otto Hager (who designed and built the N.G. Kerk).
The first principal was Miss Jane Wright of Aberdeen, Scotland. A board of guarantors eventually took the place of the kerkraad as managers and in 1905 the school Board Act came into being.
Additional buildings were acquired and in 1925 the school was raised from Secondary (Junior certificate) to high school status. Two buildings were proclaimed - the building opened by the Governor of the Cape, Sir Hely-Hutchinson in the early 1900's, forms part of the proclaimed monument.
(Listed
Building)
Paulet Street
Recently used by an
industrial concern for the storage space and now a private residence, the
building was once a school originally intended for poor children.
(National Monument)
107 Paulet Street (formerly 89 Paulet Street)
Described in it’s
declaration as an “historic Georgian dwelling-house”, the building and it’s
surrounding property was declared a national monument in March 1986. The core of
the house, which is predominantly in the Georgian style, was once presumed to
have formed part of the original homestead of the old experimental farm of Lord
Charles Somerset, Somerset Farm. This is however disputed today. The house is
one of the oldest buildings in the area and has become known as the “Mill
House”.
(National Monument)
Declared a national
monument in September 1983, this property was granted to J. van Dyk on 1
September 1825. It was one of the first lots to be allocated immediately after
the founding of the town of Somerset on Lord Charles Somerset’s experimental
farm, Somerset Farm. The building dates from the early 1830's.
(National
Monument)
Nojoli Street
The
proposal of the local Heemraden to erect a Dutch Reformed Church in 1825, was
accompanied by the submission of a design in which Cape Dutch and Gothic
architecture were cheerfully blended. The Eastern façade had a Dutch Renaissance
tower rising from an impressive thatched nave.
The
foundation stone was laid in 1830, but the building was not ready for
consecration until 1833. It was enlarged in the 1870’s by the architect and
builder, Carl Otto Hagar, and in the 1950’s, it was modernised. In the early
1970’s, the building was restored. The first minister was the Rev. George
Morgan. He was followed by the Rev. John Pears and the Rev. Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr.
(National
Monument)
Now the Library of Gill College High School
In
July 1829, Dr. William Gill was appointed District Surgeon of the newly founded
town and district of Somerset. Upon his death in 1863, he left the main portion
of his estate to found and maintain an institution for higher education in the
Eastern Cape. His will stipulated that no portion of the estate was to be spend
on the purchase or erection of buildings.
Consequently, Somerset farmers and townsfolk pledged that they would erect the
necessary buildings. Gill College was opened on 18 March 1869. Dr Gill’s remains
were transferred to the spot where he now lies in front of the College he
endowed.
In
1903, an Educational Regulation made it impossible to continue Higher Education
at any institution with fewer than 75 post-matriculant students. Gill College
became Gill College High School. Income accrued from the bequest is administered
by the Gill Corporation and post-matriculation bursaries are awarded to Gill
pupils for university study.
(National
Monument)
Now
the senior hostel of Gill College High School
Erected in 1892, College House provides excellent accommodation for senior boarders.
Louis
Trichardt Street
The
building was originally erected in 1905. It has been substantially altered
though some of the original façade has been retained. In 1832, Dr. William Gill,
Rev. George Morgan and the resident magistrate, Mr Marillier, founded the first
attempt at a library and called it “The Somerset Reading Society”. This was the
forerunner to the Somerset Public Library and in 1903, the plot where the
Library now stands, was bought for twenty five pounds. In 1973 it became known
as the Langenhoven Library.
Statues in Town…
Ds.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr
(1835 – 1908) who, until his death, served
Somerset East as dominee for over 40 years. His statue is in the grounds of the
N.G. Kerk in Nojoli Street.
Commandant Paul Erasmus
Died
in 1881 as Commandant of the Somersetters in the then Basotuland. A monument in
his memory is to be found in the grounds of the N.G. Kerk.
Commandant William Charles Comley
Who
died as a result of fever contracted in combat during the frontier wars of 1878.
A monument in his memory is to be found in the grounds of the Apostolic Church
(previously the Methodist Church) in Nojoli Street.
The Delville Wood monument
On
the island in Nojoli Street, honours Somersetters of all races, whose lives were
claimed by the Second World War.
Andries Vosloo
Previously Administrator of the Cape and a true Somersetter, is honoured by the Provincial Hospital which bears his name.