GRAHAMSTOWN:
The (British) ‘Settler City’ or ‘City of Saints’ - Grahamstown can easily claim to be a mixture of both. For although much has happened since 1820 when the first large numbers of immigrants arrived here from Britain, the town (and, indeed, the region) continues to conjure up images of rural England. For many South Africans - especially English-speakers - this city of Georgian buildings and stone cathedrals is a spiritual home - the place where new family trees first took root.
A hauntingly beautiful region - arguably the crucible of South African history - Frontier Country is a vibrant mix of all the best that Africa has to offer. One of the premier tourist routes in the Eastern Cape, it has a turbulent past, with more forts than the rest of the country combined.
Now no longer the scene of conflict and strife, it is about people breaking through frontiers. Frontier Country is the historic heartland of the Eastern Cape and embodies the spirit of the many and varied cultures who met here and made their mark - Khoi, Xhosa, Boer and British.
They brought with them a rich heritage that can still be seen today in towns and villages all over the Eastern Cape. The broad tree-lined streets and buildings of Grahamstown are the legacy of a time when this was the Cape's second city. Take time to walk through this historic centre and visit the Observatory Museum which houses one of only two Victorian Cameras Obscura in the world - the other is in Bath, England - with a magical mirror that reflects the town onto a large circular table.
With Grahamstown at its centre, Frontier Country includes Adelaide, Alicedale, Alice, Bedford, Fort Beaufort, Hogsback, Peddie, Riebeeck East, Salem, Seven Fountains and Sidbury.
Frontier Country is one of the most diverse ecological regions in South Africa, with a variety of biomes that provide unspoilt and spectacular scenery. Thousands of hectares are devoted to nature and game conservation, bringing with them the return of great herds of wildlife to the places where they once roamed freely. This malaria-free region is fast gaining local and international popularity for excellent game-viewing with a variety of private reserves which include the Big Five.
The area offers much for the outdoor enthusiast and adventurer. Activities include skydiving, hunting, game viewing, fly-fishing, hang-gliding, abseiling, river rafting and mountaineering.
True country hospitality is provided throughout the region in world class game lodges, top quality hotels, guest houses, farm stays and B&B's, and Grahamstown boasts some of the finest schools, colleges, universities and educational institutions to be found in South Africa.
PLACES OF INTEREST:
1820 SETTLERS MONUMENT:
Overlooking Grahamstown from Gunfire Hill is English-speaking South Africa’s equivalent of the Voortrekker Monument. The idea for the memorial was conceived by the 1820 Foundation to advance education and cultural development of all South Africans, but it was not until 1968 that the Prime Minister, BJ Vorster, and his wife laid the foundation stone. Every July a National Festival of the Arts and a National Schools English Festival are staged in the 920-seat theatre and conference complex.
FORT SELWYN:
There’s a fine view over the roofs and spires of a town that was still a village in about 1835, when the fort was erected and named after its designer, Major Charles Selwyn.
The star-shaped building, with restored semaphore signalling apparatus, barracks and orderly room, is one of many structures erected by the hardworking Selwyn, whose own battlemented home, “Selwyn Castle”, still stands in the town.
THE PROVOST:
With a guard tower overlooking a curving row of cells and high-walled yard, there can be no mistaking the original purpose of this place...
After years of practice, military authorities finally evolved this design in 1838 to house errant soldiers awaiting either trial or execution. Captain Robert Gethin, one of the only three veterans of the Napoleonic Wars known to have died in action in southern Africa, is buried in the little cemetery. And legend has it that on certain nights the ghost of Lady Juana Smith (wife of Governor Sir Harry Smith) wanders about in the vicinity of the nearby Botanic Gardens.
ALBANY MUSEUM:
Those who dislike the tendency for museums to concentrate on set ‘themes’ will enjoy the range of exhibits here. The natural history section includes a ‘touch gallery’ where children are encouraged to handle exhibits. The prehistory section of the complex includes fossils, and there’s even an ancient Egyptian mummy and exhibits that explain the techniques employed in archaeology. The Ethology section, which shows ‘people of Africa’, is highlighted by a detailed Xhosa display (visitors enter this are by walking through a traditional Xhosa hut). A shop on the premises sells books and souvenirs.
Established in 1855 the Albany Museum Complex comprises five museums and is the second oldest museum in the country. The Museum Complex has an Education Department which provides resources and educational programmes in cultural studies, history and the natural sciences. A Mobile Museum service offers portable exhibits, resource packs and objects for curriculum-based studies. An education programme is printed yearly and is available on request. Identification services, public lectures, film shows, open days, walking tours and special events are offered throughout the year. The original Albany Museum was established in 1855 by the Grahamstown Medical-Chirurgical Society (later the Literary, Scientific and Medical Society). The Museum has grown into a complex of separate museums which document the full spectrum of the social and natural environment, with particular reference to the Eastern Cape. The components of the complex are : the Natural Science Museum, the History Museum, the Observatory Museum, the Provost Prison and Fort Selwyn.
1820 SETTLERS’ MEMORIAL MUSEUM:
Despite the title, this museum traces the origins and development of the British settlers since they first started arriving in Southern Africa in 1795. Exhibits include family pedigrees and portraits, photographs and furniture, medals, weapons and uniforms, as well as many other touching mementoes of people trying to set up a new home from home. This is the cultural history section of the Albany Museum and is not exclusively ‘settler’ although this forms the bulk of the exhibits.
CORY LIBRARY FOR HISTORICAL RESEARCH
The Cory Library at Rhodes University collects material of all kinds to support research into the history of Southern African and related fields in the social sciences. The aim has been to build up a strong subject collection where format and medium are secondary to the subject needs of the researcher in Southern African history and a wide range of cognate fields. Collections include manuscripts and other documents, Cape and other Government publications, rare and modern books, periodicals and newspapers, maps, pictorial materials, microforms, video and audio recordings, and digital records.
The Library's holdings are particularly strong in the fields of Southern African history and politics including Xhosa history and literature, mission and church history, the history of education and mining, commercial and agricultural history. Since the initial deposit of Sir George Cory's collections there has been a particular focus on the history of the Eastern cape and on Grahamstown itself - both crucial areas of White/Xhosa interaction - but Eastern Cape local history is only one of the strengths of the collections of the Cory Library.
THE YELLOW HOUSE:
Grahamstown’s oldest public building started out in 1814 as a jail. However, when it became too small to cope with the growing influx of frontier criminals, it was put to a more practical use - as a library, school and hall for occasional meetings.
An important landmark, the layout of the city’s streets was apparently based on the line of the little building’s northwest wall. The bronze plaque on the wall once formed part of a much-criticised settlers’ monument, built in the High Street in 1920 but demolished 30 years later to make way for the Trilithon which was erected opposite the Yellow House.
PIONEER MEMORIAL:
Dr Saunders, the town’s Medical Officer, said it would look better in a cemetery. Professor George Cory, who was clearly on the other side, thought it was ‘simply chaste’ and could think of nothing more beautiful. This much-debated monument marks the spot where, in 1812, Colonel John Graham and Captain Andries Stockenstrom decided on the site for the town. The foundation stone was laid in 1912 by General Smuts, after a suggestion to invite King George V to do so had been turned down. Amid the ongoing controversy, the monument - with just one bronze panel instead of the planned four - was unveiled by the mayor in 1913.
ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL OF ST MICHAEL AND ST GEORGE:
Like so many other churches built on the turbulent frontier of the 1800s, this one had close ties with the military authorities, during frontier wars it acted as a depot for the distribution of arms and ammunition, as well as a refuge and officers’ headquarters. The oldest part of th south wall, which dates from 1824 and had a squat, square tower before the present one was built in 1878. There are numerous memorials inside the building, including one to Joshua Davis Norden, thought to be the only memorial erected to a contemporary Jew in an Anglican cathedral.
COMMEMORATION CHURCH:
Commemorating the arrival of British immigrants, this church was founded in 1845 as a gesture of settler gratitude for ‘Divine goodness towards them’. However, war on the frontier held up its completion until 1850. Near the back door a carved slate foundation stone was laid ‘by the Lady of the Reverend W Haw’. Some impressive but unofficial carving has taken place inside too, where generations of schoolboys have incised their names into the back of the pews. ‘Commem’ also has some fine official carvings, interesting memorials and stained glass, while regimental banners have been ‘laid up’, as is traditional, to rot away their long last years in peace.
ST PATRICK’S CHURCH:
During an outbreak of frontier peace between 1839 and 1844, a large garrison was retained at Grahamstown. Among the soldiers were members of the Irish regiments who willingly gave of their free time to build a church. The result was the Tudor Gothic St Patrick’s, almost as much fortress as church with its castellated walls and cruciform firing-slits. In fact, it was referred to as “The Castle”, after sheltering civilians during the “War of Axe” in 1846.
THE DRILL HALL:
It was called Albany Hall, when, in 1870 British settlers (or, more likely, their children and grandchildren) danced the night away to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their arrival. In addition to this Jubilee Ball, it was also the venue for the Jubilee Banquet and jubilee performances of Robinson Crusoe. Now it is the headquarters of the First City Regiment, originally raised as a volunteer unity in 1875. There are some relics of mechanised warfare in the grounds, and all sorts of other relics inside, for which permission is needed to view.
OBSERVATORY MUSEUM:
The drawcard here is a ‘camera obscura’, a periscope-like object that offers visitors an unusual, rotating view of Grahamstown. This and the other delights, such as an observatory, meridian room, science room and extraordinary clock, were built by Henry Galphin, a watchmaker who helped identify South Africa’s first diamond. His old jeweller’s shop (1859) still stands adjacent to this house, which is furnished in classic Mid Victorian style - right down to the formal herb garden in the yard. |
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