Sites

Archive Import
History: At the same time as the coastal area from Swellendam to George was being settled, the Little Karoo and its extension beyond the Langeberg and Outeniqua Mountains, the Langkloof, were being explored and occupied by cattle farmers. The break-through to this area occurred successively through the Cogman’s Kloof at Montagu, then through the Attaqua Kloof (or Robinson’s Pass) opposite Mossel Bay, and the Cradock Kloof which is traversed by the Outeniqua Pass today. Even as early ‘as 1752, August F. Beutler who has been mentioned before, travelled through the Attaqua Kloof and eastwards down the Langkloof. He was soon followed by the stock farmers, and by the 1860’s there were already many farmers living aboye the Upper and Lower Olifants River and in the Cango area, that is, in the vicinity of the modern Oudtshoorn. Amongst others, the farm ""de Cango aan de Doom Rivier"" was granted to Claas Grobbelaar in 1760, and the farm ""Combuis aan de Cango"" to Hemanus Steyn in the same year. The Grobbelaar’s River which flows through Oudtshoorn took its name from the former, and on the latter farm the Cango Caves were discovered.
ln the course of time there arose a small village on the farm Hartebeestrivier on the Grobbelaar’s River, and the name Grobbelaarsrivier was in fairly general use to denote both the village and the vicinity. In 1838 a church was built here, and in 1843 the village was named Oudtshoorn by E. Bergh, the Resident Magistrate of George whose wife was Gesina Ernestina Johanna van Oudtshoorn, a grand-daughter of Baron Pieter van Rheede van Oudtshoorn, who was appointed as governor of the Cape in 1772.
The village developed on both sides of the Grobbelaar’s River. During the dry seasons the river presented no problems to the inhabitants who had to cross it frequently, but in the rainy seasons it often became a raging torrent. For many years the townsfolk had to suffer this inconvenience, until in 1913 the Town Council at last approved the construction of a suspension bridge in Church Street, opposite the centre of the town. The bridge was made by the Scottish firm of Edward Rowley and Sons of London, and the consulting engineers were Hitchers & Booth, also of London.
This suspension bridge is one of the most attractive of its kind in South Africa. It has a single span of 91 m and js arched at the centre. The 9 m towers at each end are constructed of steel lattice-work.
Proclaimed 1964"
Visual Description:
Colours:
Site Features:
Condition:
Construction Date: 1913-1914
Materials:
Catalogue: , No: , Significance Category: