Location

In the far south-west of Northern Cape Province.

Colesberg lies in the vastness of the arid Karoo, on the N1 national highway almost exactly half way between Cape Town and Johannesburg. It's an attractive place, set beneath the high (1,707-metre) flat-topped, distinctively symmetrical bulk of the Colesberg massif itself, otherwise known as Tooverberg ('tower mountain') and girded around by rocky outcrops. It began life in the early 1800s as a mission station, frontier settlement, farming centre and staging point for travellers on their way into the great interior and named in honour of Sir Lowry Cole, the Cape colonial governor of the time. Many of its buildings date back to the early days. The wider area is given over to the raising of sheep, notably the famed merinos (local restaurants serve what is reputed to be the finest mutton and lamb in the country) and to stud farms that produce splendid racehorses. Gary Player, South Africa's legendary golfer, owns one of the latter.

Highlights

Historic buildings Walking tours offer an intriguing insight into the charms of early Karoo architecture. Also of note are the Dutch Reformed, Trinity Methodist and Anglican churches, the last-mentioned designed by the extraordinary, multi-talented, Sophy Gray, wife of the Cape colony's first Anglican bishop.

Museum The variety of displays include Anglo-Boer war artifacts and photos; relics from the very early colonial pioneering days; a Victorian toy collection, and exhibits of the famed 'Eureka' diamond, the first major stone discovered in the Northern Cape (see Kimberley).

Anglo-Boer War Sites Colesberg featured prominently in the 1899-1902 conflict between Imperial Britain and the republican Boers of the Orange Free State and Transvaal. In fact some 400 soldiers from various British regiments (20 different units altogether) are buried in the military cemetery. Coleserg hill served as a highly strategic look-out point; in a remarkable feat of strength and stamina, troops manhandled large artillery pieces up to its crest. Other points visited on the formal tour include Suffolk Hill, Grenadier Guard Rock, Memorial Hill and Plateau Camp.

Doornkloof Nature Reserve The sanctuary, a largish expanse of dryish sweethorn and karee-tree countryside, is home to kudu, mountain reedbuck and other antelope, bat-eared foxes and various smaller mammals. Trails have been laid out; horseback riding is on offer.

Nearest towns

De Aar lies to the west; Middelburg is to the south; Bloemfontein on the N1 highway to the north.

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COLESBERG

Locations
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PROVINCES

Western Cape
Gauteng
Eastern Cape
Free State
Kwazulu Natal
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
Northern
North West