Greyton

This Village of Greyton, in the Cape; was established in 1852. Although the first plots of land were only sold in 1854. It was named in honour of Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape 185461. By 1891 the census indicated that it had a population of 276.

In 1846 a wealthy Englishman, Herbert Vigne, bought Weltevreden. He established a freehold agricultural village on Weltevreden in 1854, keeping two small portions for himself and bequeathing the remainder of the farm as commonage. He named the village “Greyton”, after Sir George Grey, the then Governor of the Cape.

Greyton owes much of its charm to the fact that its Cape Vernacular architectural heritage has remained largely intact. It is an extremely popular weekend and holiday destination for visitors who enjoy its combination of oldworld charm and modern conveniences.

The neighbouring Greyton Nature Reserve stretching over 2,200 hectares is the 3rd largest nature reserve in the Cape and was established in 1977 by Professor Brian Rycroft.

The first inhabitants of the area were Hassequas and Attaquas KhoiKhoi tribes.


Genadendal

Genadendal has a rich spiritual history and was the first mission station in southern Africa. It was founded by George Schmidt, a German missionary of the Moravian Church, who settled on 23 April 1738 in Baviaanskloof (Ravine of the Baboons) in the Riviersonderend Valley and began to evangelise among the Khoi people.





Genadendal Village & Museum


Genadendal Mission Museum, Genadendal

This interesting and Historic Village of Genadendal is the oldest Moravian Mission Village in Africa, with Church buildings and a School that dates back to 1738. The original Moravian Mission Church houses the oldest pipe organ in South Africa.

Genadendal, which means; 'Valley of Grace'. Is located just 5km from Greyton South Africa, was originally called Baviaanskloof (Baboon Ravine) and was established in 1738 by the young Moravian missionary, Georg Schmidt. He arrived at a time when the Khoisan, already suffering under the influx of White farmers, were reeling from a smallpox epidemic to which they had no immunity! As a people they were on the verge of extinction and, against enormous odds, Schmidt formed a small congregation and taught the Khoisan to read and write. His good works came unstuck, however, when he began baptising the converts and the Dutch clergy based in Cape Town threw up their hands in horror. According to them, Schmidt was not an ordained minister and therefore had no right to administer the sacraments. In 1743 Schmidt was forced to return to Europe. The Mission Station was abandoned until almost 50 years later when three Missionaries returned to resume Schmidt’s work. A famous story from Genadendal is that, when the men returned to the forsaken mission station, they met up with an old woman, Magdalena, who still had the Bible she had been given decades before when she had been baptised by Schmidt. Although nearly blind, Magdalena had treasured her Bible safely wrapped in a skin until the missionaries returned to their flock at Genadendal. Her Bible takes pride of place in the Village’s Cultural History Museum. Once again there were all sorts of objections to the work the Missionaries were doing and they were initially prohibited from building a Chapel or Church and they had to meet in the open or in their Cottages. They were even refused permission to ring a bell to call the children to School and the congregation to assemble. British occupation changed this, however, and by 1800 the first Church was completed, but it soon became too small for the rapidly expanding congregation. 

Genadendal was so successful that at one point it was the largest Settlement in the Colony after Cape Town. It wasn’t just the Church authorities that were unhappy. A group of Strandveld farmers also threatened to put an end to the missionary work; because at the time the farmers were largely illiterate and were enormously unhappy about the idea of an educated and skilled underclass. They also faced an economic crisis, because of potential labourers that flocked to Genadendal instead.
Genadendal flourished until the end of the nineteenth Century. The first Teachers’ Training College in South Africa was built there in 1838. Genadendal also opened the first Guest House and Chemist, in the interior and in 1830 it had one of the best public, lending libraries at the Cape. In the 1860s, however, when Factories began producing mass products that were much cheaper and people turned away from the handcrafted items Genadendal was famous for!

Today Genadendal, with its 3 500 registered occupants,

Unsurprisingly, there is also a hike, known as the Genadendal Hiking Trail, which begins and ends in this little Town and winds its way through the Riviersonderend Mountains!