Jan
2015
Bathurst is an Eastern Cape Town where you will find the world’s largest pineapple manufactured from fiberglass. The town was established in 1820 by British garrisons to protect the Cape Colony from the Xhosa tribe raids on cattle farms. The town was named after Lord Henry Bathurst, Secretary of State of the Cape Colonies.
The region is sustained by farming of livestock and pineapples. Due to the British that basically populated the town and region, most of the architecture is from that fashion with Victorian and colonial designs prevalent.
Many of the homes and buildings built in the 1800’s were restored and preserved as cultural heritage sites.
Some historical sites and their stories include The Pig & Whistle Pub (the pub was the original forge shop, owned and built by Thomas Hartley in 1821) and The Wool Mill (it was built by Samuel Bradshaw who also built the Wesleyan Church in Bathurst in 1832).
The Bathurst Anglican Church is South Africa’s oldest unchanged church which was built around 1934. The church still has possession of a family Bible belonging to Jeremiah Goldswain.
Bradshaw’s Mill, which has a functioning water driven wheel, is a cultural heritage site which was constructed to process wool and was later used to process maize. Tourists are treated to the history of sheep farming and wool and maize processing in this museum.
Bathurst has quite a few rivers which flow through the region including The Great Fish River, The Bushmans River, The Kariega River, Kleinmond River and Kowie River.
The town of Bathurst is packed with cultural historical sites which will excite any tourist and is worth a second look.
Other tourist attractions in and around Bathurst are the Amakhala Game Reserve, the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club, Bathurst Farmers Market, Bradshaw’s Mill Museum, Bathurst Agricultural Museum and Waters Meeting Nature Reserve.
Towns close to Bathurst are Grahamstown, Port Alfred and Kenton-on-Sea.
Search the MyRoof website to see the properties offered in and around Bathurst.
