Breede River Valley is a region of Western Cape Province , South Africa known for being the largest fruit and wine producing valley in the Western Cape, as well as South Africa's leading race-horse breeding area. It is part of the Boland bordering on becoming Little Karoo towards the east.
24-827: Rawsonville is a small wine growing and farming community in the Breede River Valley of the Western Cape province of South Africa . The town forms part of the Breede Valley Local Municipality , and is located in a scenic portion of the valley on the eastern flanks of the Du Toitskloof Mountains . The town is part of the Breedekloof Wine Route and hosts the annual Breedekloof extreme sports festival. The economy remains heavily reliant on serving
48-467: A conservation area of 30,608 ha. Many animals, such as baboons , bat-eared foxes , lynxes , and smaller species of antelope , live in parts of the valley, and it is known that leopards still occur in the mountains . Baboons are a common sight on the pass. The Witzenberg Valley is home to a wide variety of birds, including the Cape sugarbird and Verreaux's eagle . The most conspicuous components of
72-631: A public auction on 11 June 1859. The town was named for Sir Rawson William Rawson , the Cape Colonial Secretary. Since the modern day, there is a rural suburban areas called De Nova and "Nuwe huisies"(New Houses) with the squatter camps called Spookytown, Geelkampies, Ocean view, Riverside and Bos nakata. 45 Deelhebbers (participants) decided to form De Goudini School in 1858 and they were represented by seven school directors. Rawsonville also consist of schools called Rawsonville Primary, Weltevrede Primary and many more. On 16 June 1878
96-740: A public meeting was held to ascertain if a Dutch Reformed Church Congregation should be established at Rawsonville and on 14 October 1879 the Worcester Ring Commission granted permission for the formation of the Goudini Dutch Reformed Congregation. Under the Village Management Act Rawsonville was granted Town Management in 1883. During the 1800s, if a doctor was needed someone had to travel to Worcester on horseback or on foot and if it rained continuously for six hours,
120-762: Is relatively broad and flat for a Western Cape valley, averaging at a floor height of 80m-250m above sea-level. Western regions are mostly alluvial and flat, while eastern regions have more hills of the Bokkeveld Group with narrow alluvial deposits. The valley is framed by the high mountains of the Cape Fold Belt , with the Hex River Mountains and the Skurweberge to the northwest, the Langeberg Mountains (up to 2000m) to
144-738: The Boland area was hit by an earthquake that caused considerable damage to the town of Tulbagh. Many of the Church Street buildings were destroyed. The extent of the damage was aptly described by the Journal Bulletin of the Simon van der Stel Foundation in 1973: "A street that somehow captured the essential spirit of a unique culture looked as if it was in the throes of a nightmare: many fine gables had either tumbled or were totally destroyed, whole sections of many houses had collapsed, most of
168-677: The Western Cape , South Africa . The basin is fringed on three sides by mountains, and is drained by the Klein Berg River and its tributaries. The nearest towns are Ons Rust and Gouda beyond the Nuwekloof Pass, Wolseley some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the south inside the basin, and Ceres and Prince Alfred Hamlet beyond Michell's Pass in the Warm Bokkeveld. The basin has been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous Bushmen and Khoi-San peoples. It
192-536: The wine district of Breedekloof , Rawsonville is part of the Breedekloof wine route , a scenic byway that passes 22 wineries of differing sizes. A new community centre with facilities including a meeting hall and classrooms was opened in the town in 2018 for the Merwida wine estate . It is used by over 450 people, most of whom are vineyard workers. Breede River Valley The Breede River Valley
216-576: The Smalblaar River burst its banks and the water ran through town. Under these circumstances no school was attended. The climate is hinterland (further from oceanic influences) mediterranean , with cool, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. Due to its more inland location, winters can sometimes get frosty, with heavy snowfalls sometimes falling on the surrounding high ground. Summers are generally mild, although some February and March days can reach 38 °C (100 °F) or higher. Located within
240-417: The agricultural community, however tourism in the form of weekend retreats are becoming more important to the town's income. Rawsonville is 90 kilometres (56 miles) to the east of Cape Town and 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) to the west of the large town of Worcester . Slanghoek, Klipdrift, Groot Vlakte, Groot Eiland, Gevonden, Goudyn, Boontjiesrivier, Dasbosch Rivier, Pokkekraal and Aan-de-Smalblaar were some of
264-475: The centre of the valley, virtually equidistant from Tulbagh in the north and the other major town, Robertson to the south-east. The main north-south rail and road routes traverse the valley, including the N1 highway linking Cape Town and Johannesburg . It is climatically diverse, however it completely falls within a Mediterranean Climate with most precipitation falling in winter (May through September). Towards
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#1732791964093288-560: The cultural landscape and undeveloped properties connected to the historical structures above". The bowl is surrounded by the Obiqua Mountains to the west, Groot Winterhoek Mountain to the north and the Witzenberg Mountains to the east, with peaks that rise to over 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). The basin experiences a type of Mediterranean climate . The southern side is open to cooling south-east winds during
312-631: The flora are evergreen sclerophyllous plants, many with ericoid leaves and gracile habit, as opposed to timber forest. Several plant families are conspicuous in fynbos ; the Proteaceae are prominent, with genera such as Protea , Leucospermum (the "pincushions"), and Leucadendron (the silver tree and "cone bushes"). Proteas are represented by many species and are prominent in the landscape, generally with large striking flowers, many of which are pollinated by birds, and others by small mammals. Tulbagh hosts various events every year. In June,
336-528: The highest peaks and mild temperatures. 33°45′S 19°30′E / 33.750°S 19.500°E / -33.750; 19.500 Tulbagh Tulbagh ( Afrikaans: [tœlbaχ] ), previously named Roodezand, later named after Dutch Cape Colony Governor Ryk Tulbagh , is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Winelands of
360-553: The hot summer months. Accordingly, Tulbagh enjoys some of the most diverse and attractive conditions for viticulture in the Cape, and the differences in terroir available to wine makers allow for a wide diversity of distinctive wines . The Groot Winterhoek Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt . They rise to a maximum height of 2,077 metres (6,814 ft) just north of the town of Tulbagh as Groot Winterhoek peak. The Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area, operated by CapeNature, comprises
384-597: The hottest of days. This is due to the Du Toitskloof and Riviersonderend Mountains blocking cooling oceanic breezes from reaching the valley. During winter however, the valley is often colder than other seaward regions, like the Overberg . Snow is a regular occurrence on the surrounding mountains; snow does not fall on the valley floor, although light frost does occasionally occur. Spring and Autumn are transitional periods of variable rainfall, occasional light snow on
408-582: The largest number of Cape-Dutch, Edwardian and Victorian provincial heritage sites in one street in South Africa, and remains a major tourist attraction of the town to the present day. The work started by the committee has been continued to the present day by various residents of Tulbagh, but also significantly by the Tulbagh Valley Heritage Foundation, which aims to restore and maintain "all structures older than 60 years,
432-647: The north and west, rainfall approaches upwards of 1000mm p.a., particularly in the Slanghoek Region near Rawsonville , whilst it becomes drier towards the south and west, with most areas averaging 300mm p.a., with areas near Worcester only receiving 175mm p.a. Thus Karoo Shrub dominates eastern hills (particularly the unique Robertson Karoo vegetation type) with lush Fynbos vegetation dominating western regions. Summers can be very hot, due to its inland location, usually averaging 30 °C from December to March, but sometimes peaking near 40 °C during
456-546: The north, the smaller Boland Mountains to the southwest, and the Riviersonderend Mountains to the south. It stretches from Tulbagh in the north to McGregor in the south and Rawsonville in the west to Ashton and Bonnievale in the east. Its namesake, the Breede River , flows through the broad valley as a consequent stream . The largest town in the valley is Worcester , which lies almost in
480-432: The original farms occupied by European settlers since 1709. By the 1850s the necessity for the formation of a hamlet had become clear; the ward was cut off from Worcester during the rainy season when the Breede River burst it banks regularly. The farm Aan-de-Smalblaar was transported to Johannes Petrus (Jan) Jordaan on 23 July 1858. Jan Jordaan divided a portion of the farm into 57 residential plots and these were sold at
504-557: The region had also been known as Roodezand ("red sand"). The region corresponds to the present Tulbagh district, named after Governor Ryk Tulbagh . The town developed slowly and over time and in the period many notable examples of Cape Dutch architecture , Victorian and Edwardian houses and other buildings such as the Oude Kerk (1743) and the Oude Drosdy (the original colonial Magistrate's complex) were built. In September 1969
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#1732791964093528-550: The soft brick walls had burst open in wide cracks, plaster had been torn by off in large sheets, rafters and roofs had caved in. Everything appeared to be in total and irreparable ruin." After the disaster in Church Street, extensive projects of restoration began with the National Committee for the Restoration of Historic Buildings in Tulbagh and its Environment. Because of this work Tulbagh now contains possibly
552-699: The village Christmas in Winter; in September the Tulbagh Spring Arts Festival showcases a variety of visual and performing arts ; and the annual Tulbagh Horse & Wildflower Show. Tulbagh has also previously hosted the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race. Wine has been produced for many years in the basin on a commercial scale, but only recently have large advances been made. There are now numerous wine estates in and around
576-549: Was about 300 years ago when, after a land grant by the Dutch Colonial Government to a more or less equal number of Dutch and Huguenot settlers to settle the area, that the town of Tulbagh was founded. The region was named "Land van Waveren" in 1699 by Willem Adriaan van der Stel in honour of the Oetgens van Waveren family, from which his mother was descended. Before this date, but also subsequent to it,
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