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Karoo Heartland Discover the unsurpassed grandeur of the Eastern Cape's Karoo Heartland. Big Sky Country.

The first people to occupy the area around Tarkastad were the San, who left an abundance of rock art paintings in Grootv...
14/08/2025

The first people to occupy the area around Tarkastad were the San, who left an abundance of rock art paintings in Grootvlei just north of the town. The first Dutch farmers settled in the area in 1795. The town of Tarkastad was established in 1862 as a church centre and it became a municipality in 1864.

The town was once thriving and a number of churches were built over the years. Here are just four of them.
* Dutch Reformed Church at the top of Church Street
* Presbyterian Church
* Anglican Church
* The Congregation Church

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

If you're ever in Middelburg (Karoo), then you have to go and look up the "Stoel Monument". On 4 September 1901, during ...
12/08/2025

If you're ever in Middelburg (Karoo), then you have to go and look up the "Stoel Monument".

On 4 September 1901, during the Anglo-Boer War, the famed British army rebel hunter Colonel Harry Scobell trapped and captured Commandant J. C. Lötter, Lötter’s right-hand man, Lieutenant Pieter Wolfaardt and most of the members of their commando south of Graaff-Reinet. Fourteen men were killed and 126 were captured. The men had been betrayed by Lewies van Niekerk, who’d given Scobell the precise location of the camp.

One of the top commandants in the Cape, Lötter was known for his daring “hit and run” tactics. Earlier in the war, after the British had introduced their shocking scorched-earth and concentration camp policies, Lötter and the commandos had been allowed to retaliate.

The two men were sent to Middelburg, where the death sentences were read out to both. Businesses in town were ordered to close and the entire population was compelled to attend the sentencing. The following day Lötter was taken to a spot next to the Richmond Road where he was tied to a chair and shot. He was buried there and this is where the “Stoel Monument” still stands.

Three days later, Wolfaardt was taken to the same place, where he shared Lötter’s fate. The two were buried in the same grave. Six years later, the remains of both men were dug up, placed in one coffin, and reburied in the Middelburg cemetery.

https://www.karooheartland.com/listings/middelburg-stoel-monument/

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Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

Imagine being back in the 1840s. Clanking wagons roll through the river town of Cradock on their way to the hinterland. ...
08/08/2025

Imagine being back in the 1840s. Clanking wagons roll through the river town of Cradock on their way to the hinterland. Hear the clatter of blacksmiths, the crack of the drovers’ whips, the chatter of last-minute traders as adventurers and their families prepare for their long trek across the Karoo. More than two dozen Tuishuise line Market Street up to the Victoria Manor, a grand old colonial hotel that welcomes you with hearty country fare, an indulgence of superb traditional Karoo and South African food – evening meals are by candlelight, that reflect the love for the Karoo.

But by the early 1920s, the world had swopped over to trains and motorcars, with wagons a relic of the past. The artisans clung to their homes and, ironically, kept them in their traditional state because they were too poor to knock them down and build those modern-day monstrosities you see all over the platteland.

Today Market Street consists of more than two dozen individually decorated houses, paying tribute to people who lived in the street as well as leading literary figures and heroes from Cradock. It is a much loved hotel visited by travellers far and wide who love warm hospitality and a good story with a happy ending!

https://www.karooheartland.com/listings/cradocks-tuishuise/

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

Tarkastad is located in the Winterberg Mountains, about halfway between Cradock and Queenstown. The town is known for it...
06/08/2025

Tarkastad is located in the Winterberg Mountains, about halfway between Cradock and Queenstown. The town is known for its San rock paintings, its beautiful Karoo scenery, and its role in the Second Boer War.

The first people to occupy the area around Tarkastad were the San, who left an abundance of rock art paintings in Grootvlei just north of the town. The first Dutch farmers settled in Tarkastad in 1795 and built watermills, inns and both a Dutch Reformed and a Presbyterian Church.

The name Tarkastad is believed to originate from the Khoi-San word "Traka" (meaning "women") or the Celtic word "Tarka" (meaning "otter") combined with the Afrikaans word "Stad" (meaning "city"). The fact that the town is overlooked by Martha and Mary, two peaks that resemble two women resting after a hard day’s work, also lends to the name.

Two Great Trek leaders, Andries Potgieter and Piet Retief, farmed here for a short while. After the Dutch farmers decided to accompany their leaders on the Great Trek, the English 1820 settlers moved in, and in 1862, Tarkastad was established as a church centre and became a municipality in 1864.

Elands River Poort is located 24 km to the NNW of Tarkastad, where the Battle of Elands River (1901) was fought during the Second Boer War. The 17th Lancers C Squadron was under the command of Captain Sandeman, a cousin of Winston Churchill. The War Cemetery at Modderfontein has the graves of British Soldiers killed in the Battle.

A family house in Tarkastad was the birthplace of anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko.

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

Behind the Reinet House Museum in Graaff-Reinet, visitors will find a Black Acorn grapevine planted by Charles Murray in...
04/08/2025

Behind the Reinet House Museum in Graaff-Reinet, visitors will find a Black Acorn grapevine planted by Charles Murray in 1870 which is said to be the second oldest living grapevine in South Africa. The “trunk” of the vine used to be a lot larger than now but some years ago a big part of it had to be cut away when it picked up a disease. It is said that it took 3 men’s arms stretched out to encircle the stem.

Just for interest’s sake. It is said the oldest grapevine in South Africa can be found in Heritage Square near the Company Garden in Cape Town. It is considered the oldest fruit-bearing vine in the Southern Hemisphere, and after testing it in France, it was determined that the vine, which was planted around 1771, is Gross Chenin Blanc.

https://www.karooheartland.com/listings/graaff-reinets-black-acorn-grapevine/

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

A Karoo thunderstorm could lead to a Karoo monster showing itself. This is when giant two-metre earthworms rear up out o...
01/08/2025

A Karoo thunderstorm could lead to a Karoo monster showing itself. This is when giant two-metre earthworms rear up out of their burrows and find a road to cross. Startled motorists spot them more often than scientists.
South Africa has the largest earthworm ever found, according to the International Worm Digest digital archives. A giant worm measuring nearly seven metres (22 feet) was found beside a road near King William’s Town back in 1967.

Microchaetus skeadi shows a preference for the Karoo and Eastern Cape, and although seldom seen, is listed as of the most interesting inhabitants of the Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock.

The Karoo giant earthworms are usually found half a metre underground and are preyed upon by giant golden moles and also the odd person seeking fishing bait.

Info courtesy of karoospace.co.za
📸 Orange Grove Farm

https://www.karooheartland.com/giant-earthworms-of-the-karoo/

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

The early history of Somerset East and Glen Avon Farm is tied to the history of Robert Hart.In 1795 he was an 18-year-ol...
30/07/2025

The early history of Somerset East and Glen Avon Farm is tied to the history of Robert Hart.

In 1795 he was an 18-year-old private in the Argyllshire Highlanders when the regiment disembarked at Cape Town. They served for a while on the Cape frontier until Britain returned the Cape to Holland, where after it returned to Britain.

In 1807, however, Robert Hart, now a married man, returned to the Cape as an officer in Colonel Graham’s newly formed Cape Regiment and was stationed at Grahamstown. Later, he was put in charge of the experimental farm founded by Lord Charles Somerset, the governor of the Cape, and which provided supplies to the army.

In 1825 the farm was closed down and the little town of Somerset East was laid out on its grounds. Hart and his family then settled on farmland adjacent to the town, which he was granted in recognition of his services to the government. Here he built a homestead – Glen Avon. Hart, who was a pioneer of Merino sheep farming, farmed sheep, grew fruit, especially citrus, and grain. So successful was grain production in the region that it justified him building a commercial mill for neighbouring farmers.

The machinery and equipment were made at Leeds in England, shipped to Algoa Bay, transported by bullock wagon to Glen Avon via the old Zuurberg Pass and assembled on the spot.

Robert Hart died in 1867 at the ripe old age of 90. The farm is still farmed by his direct descendant. Due to the care the family has taken over the intervening years, the farm’s original buildings are in a fine state of preservation and are a wonderful example of the Colonial architecture of the period.

Hart is buried in the Hart Vault in the family graveyard on the farm.

https://www.karooheartland.com/robert-hart-father-of-somerset-east/

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

Willowmore first started generating electricity in 1938. In the building of the old power station are six Lister Blackst...
28/07/2025

Willowmore first started generating electricity in 1938. In the building of the old power station are six Lister Blackstone diesel generators, the largest of which is still in working condition.

When the last generator set was installed, it was necessary to lengthen the building. The entire west wall was removed and the building extended to accommodate the additional machine. Diesel was transported in 44-gallon metal drums to Willowmore. Later, two large metal storage tanks were mounted on the ground towards the eastern section of the power station. Diesel was then pumped through the pipeline from the diesel truck at the station into these storage tanks.

These Blackstones were shipped from England and then came to Willowmore by rail from Cape Town. When the delivery of the machines took place, no suitable crane was available to assist with offloading. Local staff dug a long pit, with a ramp at one end, so the truck could be reversed in, with the load bed at normal ground level. The crated machinery was then rolled off with the assistance of a number of steel pipes and manually pushed and shoved into position.

The Old Blackstone Power Station supplied the town with power until 1984.

https://www.karooheartland.com/listings/the-old-blackstone-power-station/

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

The actual date the John Rupert Theatre building in Graaff-Reinet was built is unknown. The design is of a straight-side...
25/07/2025

The actual date the John Rupert Theatre building in Graaff-Reinet was built is unknown. The design is of a straight-sided gable with a small belfry at the apex within an ochre façade.

The building was known by the coloured community as the Great London Church and was consecrated by Dr John Phillip of the London Mission Society, in whose name the property was transferred, in 1847. In 1920 the Society sold it to the United Congregational Church. The original pulpit can still be seen in the foyer. Dr Anton Rupert acquired it in 1969 and after restoring it donated it to the Graff-Reinet Town Council in eternal Trust.

The building is named after John Rupert, the father of Dr Anton Rupert. After serving the town as an art gallery the building was converted in a Little Theatre in 1980 by the Graaff-Reinet Round Table. The theatre is also used by touring companies for their productions.

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

Here's a then and now of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cradock comparing Cradock around 1900 with what it looks like toda...
23/07/2025

Here's a then and now of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cradock comparing Cradock around 1900 with what it looks like today. Less trees and more buildings, but the magnificent center piece of the church still stands.

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

Did you know that the first stock fences in South Africa was erected by John Sweet Distin in the Middelburg Karoo distri...
21/07/2025

Did you know that the first stock fences in South Africa was erected by John Sweet Distin in the Middelburg Karoo district?

Distin’s tale of fortune and fences began with a splash when he arrived in South Africa in 1846. He and his parents were returning to England from New Zealand when their ship docked at Algoa Bay. As they departed, the 20-year-old made up his mind to try his luck in South Africa and jumped overboard. Distin joined the British Army for a while, made a bit of cash fighting in the Frontier Wars, and subsequently established his trading business in the Eastern Cape, which financed his love of farming and the purchase of his farm Tafelberg Hall in the mid-1800s.

So firmly did he advocate the need to divide livestock farms into fenced-off stock camps for veld rejuvenation and animal health that, in the 1860s, he put it before parliament. Defeated there, Distin headed back to his farm and set about fencing his own farm.

At the time, no one wanted to concede that the vast funds required for fencing were a necessity, until overgrazing and disease forced the government’s hand many years later, resulting in the act regulating the er****on and maintenance of dividing fences in 1883.

Distin’s first fence, now a national monument, is still standing taught and strong, tethered to the original sneezewood fencing poles near Tafelberg outside Middelburg.

https://www.karooheartland.com/john-sweet-distin-he-who-erected-the-first-stock-fences-in-south-africa/

Planning a visit to the Karoo Heartland?
Visit the Karoo Heartland website at www.karooheartland.com for more information on things to see, accommodation, restaurants and activities

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