Places & Buildings of Historical Importance in Wellington

Places & Buildings of Historical Importance in Wellington

Anglo Boer War Blockhouse

The British buildt over 8000 blockhouses during the Anglo Boer War. The most Southern blockhouse can be seen on the banks of the Bergriver on Versailles farm in Wellington, part of a chain protecting the rail link to the north. It is prefabricated from stone with cement gun outlets, an ironwork lookout and a corrugated iron roof. It has been proclaimed a national monument.

Clairvaux, Murray Jubilee Hall & Samuel House

The house used to be the residence of Dr Murray, the famous Scottish-born minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and subsequently a missionary-training institute. Now the property of the Huguenot College.

Coronation Arch and Victoria Park

The park, with it’s beautiful garden and shady trees, form the backdrop to the arch erected in commemoration of the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902.

Dutch Reformed Church

This foundation stone of this church was laid way back in 1838. The first section of the building which comprised of the nave only was taken into use in 1840. The vestry was added two years later and two wings were added to the building in 1861. The impressive church tower was completed in 1895. In 1923 a statue of Andrew Murray was erected at the front of the church in his honour and today it looks out over Church street. Ds Murray moved to various congregations over the years and finally ended up in the Wellington church where he continued his work until his death in 1917. He was buried in the church gardens.

Bovlei Missionary Church 1820 / Wagenmakersvallei-Dutch Reformed Mission

The South African Missionary Society established a ministry in Wagenmakers­vallei in 1796 and ministered to slaves and to detribalised Khoikhoi people who worked as labourers to settler farmers. In 1820 they were succeeded by the Dutch Reformed congregation of Paarl and a small rectangular, thatched-roof church was built. This little church, the oldest in the district, is a landmark in the history of mission work in South Africa. It is still used by the people of Bovlei.

The Dutch Reformed Mission Church 1845 & 1941

The Mission Church was built on the corner of Church and Main Streets in 1845 and a Mission Church Synod was founded. The building was demolished and a much bigger Art Deco style church was built in Melling Street and inaugurated in September 1941.

St. Alban’s Anglican Church

St. Alban’s Anglican Church was built around 1903 when a parish was established in Wellington. Up till then the congregation had been served by the Holy Trinity Church in Paarl.

Presbyterian Church 1908

This building was designed by John Parker in the neo-Gothic style. The intimate interior and open roof construction recall the feel of medieval architecture

Synagogue / New Apostolic Church

Land to build a synagogue was bought by the Jewish community of Wellington in 1902 and the foundation stone was laid by Isaiah Goldstein on 24 August 1921. In 1942 the house adjoining the synagogue was purchased and in 1945 another property was acquired to convert into a communal hall and Hebrew School. In 1981 these buildings were sold and the remaining nine Jewish families in the town joined the Paarl congregation. The building presently houses the congregation of the New Apostolic Church.

Old Market Building 1847 / Information Bureau

The market hall was the centre of trade with inland towns such as Ceres, Tulbagh and Malmesbury. The ringing of a bell signalled the opening of the market. From 1872 it served as Chambers for the Town Council and later as the Magistrate’s Court. Later still, the Red Cross used it as a loan depot. It now houses Wellington’s information bureau.

The Independent Friendly Society

The Independent Friendly Society was founded in 1894 as a community service organisation to support members in times of sickness or death. This building in Milner Street was used by the Society until 1957, after which they relocated to Park Street. The Society disbanded in 1989.

Public Library

Wellington’s public library was established in 1879. This building, which dates from 1923, has a sealed bottle in its foundations containing the signatures of the erstwhile mayor and councillors, local church ministers, Library Committee members, principals of local schools and colleges, the architect, builder and librarian, as well as several coins and editions of the Cape Times, Die Burger and the Wellington Gazette.

Cummings House

This beautiful sandstone and granite building served as both residence and classrooms for the training of teachers. It still serves as a residence for students at the teachers training college.

Lady Loch Steel Bridge

The very first all steel bridge built in South Africa in 1910 and is still in use today.

Mochudi Villa 1867 / Ouma Granny’s House

It was built in 1876 by a missionary who named it Mochudi, after one of his missions in Botswana. It is now owned by the Municipality, called Ouma Granny’s House, and houses Mrs Joyce Hoogenhout’s personal collection. Ouma Granny’s House is a beautiful little Victorian home in Fountain street which houses a unique and priceless collection of an era that has sadly passed by. The house museum is a happy place – alive with voices from past generations – a place where clocks chime and tick away the minutes of the ages.

Stucki School

The old Stucki school in the Blouvlei, Wellington, South Africa existed between 1860 – 1919. Quite a few well known South Africans attended this little school.The school founded by Marinus Stucki was housed in this building from 1861 to 1902. The school drew students from far afield because they could be taught in their native language, Dutch. A fire destroyed the roof in 1874, but soon afterwards a graceful double-storeyed building replaced the original single-storeyed one. The upper floor was used for boarders’ accommodation. Gradually the building fell into disrepair and was again rebuilt as a single-storey. From 1920 to 1928 the building was used as a domestic science school for needy girls but has since stood empty.

MacCrone Homestead

MacCrone Homestead was built as a hostel for the Boys’ High School in 1904 and called the “Homestead” or “Te Huis”. It was used later, first by the amalgamated Huguenot High School and then by the Teachers’ Training College.

Bisseux Commemorative School

Bisseux Commemorative School was established in the 1830s and named after Reverend Isaac Bisseux of the Paris Evangelical Mission Society, founders of a mission station in the Bovlei. The building is now used by the Wagenmakers’ Valley Primary School.

Pauw Commemorative School

Pauw Commemorative School, built in 1926, was also founded by the Paris Evangelical Mission Society and named after Reverend J.C. Pauw. Pauw came to Wellington in 1879 and soon after his arrival, bought a property and converted the barn and outbuildings into a school.

La Petite École (The Small School) 1854

This little building housed the first state school in Wellington and was attended by white and coloured children.

Brandewyndraai or Morrie-se-draai

Apparently a wagon-load of brandy and raisins plummeted down the steep ravine and gave the drinking water of the farm Welvanpas a strange taste.

Mr Morrie was the locals name for the famous rev. Andrew Murray who, when he started his ministry in Wellington, was met by the congregation at this spot.

Gawie se Water

In 1880 Gawie Retief completed an ambitious project on behalf of the Bovlei’s farming community: to channel water from the Witterivier across the watershed into the Kromrivier to provide irrigation water to the his fellow Bovlei farmers. Today this canal in Bainskloof irrigates more than 600 ha of fertile vineyards and vine nurseries. This “river piracy” allows the Witterivier to flow into both the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.

Hugo’s Rest

Some distance after Gawie’s Water you will notice the stonework of a road to your right. This is the road leading to the ruins of a magnificent mansion built by a local businessman, PJ Hugo. A ruin, signposted, but not visible from the road, which burnt down in 1949.Mr Hugo, built the 25-roomed mansion for his retirement. His wife could not bear the solitude and the house was rarely occupied. In 1979, a young couple were brutally murdered there

Henceforth, there have been numerous ghost stories surrounding the ruin and the house is believed to be haunted. It is alleged that Hugo diverted some of “Gawie se Water” for his swimming pool.

Twistniet

The land on which this house stands was granted to Herculé Verdeaux in 1699. The farm was called “Champagne” and for most of the 18th century belonged to Huguenot families. In 1801 the section on which Twistniet was built was acquired by Daniël Retief. It is a typical T-shaped, gabled homestead. In 1840 the land was bought by the Church Commission to form the nucleus of the town.

Malanot

Malanot is situated immediately next to Twistniet and presumably was once the wine-cellar of “Champagne”. After the farm was bought by the Church Commission and sub-divided into plots, Malanot was purchased by “Ryk” (rich) Dawid Malan. “Malanot” is derived from the surname Malan.

Clairvaux

Clairvaux, meaning “clear view”, was Dr Andrew Murray’s manse from 1892. He named it to remind him of the view from the castle of St. Bernard of Clairvaux in France. Murray did most of his writing on the north-facing stoep. Since 1964 the building has belonged to the Huguenot College.

The Breytenbach Centre

The house Breytenbach grew up in is today a cultural centre,The Breytenbach Centre, that opened in 2007 after extensive restoration work. The house was built roughly 150 years ago and was first a hotel, Commercial Hotel, before it was sold in the late 1890s as a student boarding house. Early in 1940 it was the base for theWellingtonse Voortrekkerkommando before it was sold to Hans and Kitty Breytenbach in 1953 that used it as a boarding house, Grevilleas. In 1974 the Breytenbachs sold the house to the Wellington municipality that used it as a day hospital.

Cummings Hall

Cummings Hall was inaugurated on 16 December 1898 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Seminary. The date on the gable, 1896, is when the foundation stone was laid. E.A. Goodnow funded this building and at his request it was named after Anna Cummings. It was designed by an American architect and has Normandic features, typical of late nineteenth century revivalist architecture

Goodnow Hall 1886-1896

Goodnow Hall was funded by the American philanthropist, E.A. Goodnow, and served as a cultural centre. The neo-renaissance building was designed in America by S. Eagle. The upper floor still provides a venue for the performing arts.

Holyoke

Holyoke also designed by S.R. Immelman, was built in 1938 as a small hospital for the Seminary. It is now the guest house of the Boland College of Education.

Mary Lyon

Mary Lyon was designed in 1938 by S.R. Immelman as a study hall for students. It bears the name of the founder of Mount Holyoke Seminary.

Navarre

Navarre was designed by Parker and Forsyth and built in 1927 to provide additional accommodation for students. It is named after the first Protestant king of France, Henry of Navarre (1589-1610). Since 1961 it has been a men’s hostel for the Boland College of Education.

Ferguson Hall

Ferguson Hall is another John Parker design and was built for the Huguenot College, later the Huguenot University College, in 1908. The building was named after Miss Abbie Ferguson, one of the founders of the Seminary. Since 1972 it has accommodated Bible Media.

Huguenot College 1907 / Girls’ High School

This building, with its beautiful courtyard and collonaded entrance with vaulted archways, was designed by John Parker. It served the Girls’ High School and the amalgamated Huguenot High School until 1970. Today the building houses the main administrative offices of the Huguenot College.

Bliss Hall

Bliss Hall was designed by John Parker with a double gable above the main entrance and turrets on each corner. It was also built with a grant from A.E. Goodnow in 1904 and named after a teacher, Anna Bliss. From 1970 it was used as a women’s hostel by the Boland College of Education. A fire devastated the building in October 2000 and only the gabled façade survived.

The Murray Hall

The foundation-stone of this building, the first of the newly-founded Seminary, was laid on 19 November 1874. It served as a hostel for the girls and women of the Seminary and with additions, the Girls’ School, the Huguenot University College and the Training College. It now forms part of the Boland College of Education.

Murray Jubilee Hall

Murray Jubilee Hall was built in 1905 as a lecture hall. The combined elements of Baroque gable and neoclassical windows are typical of the Cape Dutch revival style current at the beginning of the century.

Samuel Hall 1883

The inscription on the front gable is a reminder that this building was “begged from God through prayer” and so “dedicated to God”, as Samuel’s mother, Hannah, did immediately after his birth. Samuel Hall is a classically-elegant building with dressed stonework, sash windows and louvred shutters.

The Mission Institute

The Mission Institute, founded by Dr Andrew Murray in 1877, was the first institution for the training of Dutch Reformed missionaries in South Africa. Since the closure of the Institute in 1962, missionaries receive their training at the Theological School of the University of the Western Cape.

The Huguenot Seminary

Founded by Dr Andrew Murray in 1874, the Huguenot Seminary was the first institution of its kind for girls in South Africa. It was modelled on the lines of Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA. Its marked religious character served to commemorate the Huguenots.The Huguenot Seminary established Wellington as an important centre of education and gave rise to a succession of educational institutions where girls and women were also accommodated. In 1896 a Training College for teachers was established, in 1899 the Huguenot College (from 1920 until 1950, Huguenot University College), and in 1899 the Huguenot Girls’ High School. The Teachers’ Training College now goes by the name of the Boland College of Education. The University College reverted to its original name of Huguenot College in 1951 and trains social workers, youth workers and mission workers. The Huguenot Girls’ High School merged with the Boys’ School in 1954 and is now known as the Huguenot High School.

Groenberg School

The Groenberg School was established in 1864 and the building erected in 1866. A teacher’s house was erected next door some years later.

Wellington Museum

Wellington Museum features cultures of various African ethnic groups. The museum also exhibits Stone-Age artifacts, a major collection of Egyptian artifacts and exhibits of various pioneers who made their mark on the history of Wellington and South Africa.