Apr
2014
Colesberg is a small quaint town located on one of the routes on the N1 between Cape Town and Gauteng and neighbouring towns.
The town of Colesberg falls in the Northern Cape region and is signified by the unmistakable Coleskop or Towerberg outside the town.
The London Missionary Society had a station in the town which was named Toverberg before the town was established in 1830 around this abandoned railway station. The town was renamed in 1830 after the then Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole.
The town was a stopover for travelers, hunters and prospectors, after wealth or adventure, from the Cape to the interior.
Colesberg was, like many towns in the Second Boer war, embroiled in skirmishes with the British and Boer forces and a The Garden of Remembrance was established for the soldiers that lost their lives to war and is located just outside the town.
Settlers established farms in the region and like most towns in the early 1800’s there was the ever present churches to cement the communities. The town had a Methodist and Dutch Reformed church, with Afrikaans or Dutch being the predominant language group.
The town’s first Anglican Church was conducted in the Court House and the London Mission Chapel. Dr CEH Orpen was appointed as rector and in 1852 the Anglican Church was constructed which was designed by Sophy Gray whom was the wife of the Cape Town based bishop, Robert Gray.
The town is sustained by agriculture and farming with Merino sheep being the predominant breed, typical of the Karoo regions. The town is also famous for its race horse stud farms.
One stud farm in Colesberg which has a very familiar name not synonymous with horses, is Gary Player, the legendary South African golfer.
The town has a large cultural history and the cultural heritage sites are worth the time. The town itself has a collection of architecture which was restored and preserved like the typical Victorian and Cape Dutch homes dating back to the 1800’s.
The town of Colesberg is a tourist destination with scores of gust farms, B&B’s and hotels, catering for tourists visiting the region or en-route to further destinations like Cape Town.
The tourist attractions in the region range from 4x4 trails, mountain biking, camping and hiking on the Orange and Seekoei river confluence, which is located in the Doornkloof Nature Reserve.
Take a tour of the MyRoof website, there is a vast selection of properties on offer.
