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9/2/111/0103

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26997

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Dutch Reformed Church, Carr Hill Road, Wynberg, Cape Town

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No

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Anonymous

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Post date: 07/08/2012
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Archive Import
History: A Dutch Reformed Church was built here in 1831. In 1899 it was replaced by the present fine building.

For more than a century and a half most of the inhabitants of this remote area belonged to the mother congregation in Cape Town. It was difficult for them to attend services regularly because of the distances they had to travel and the poor state of the roads, so that by the beginning of the nineteenth century there was an increasing need for a separate church. On 7th June, 1829, at a meeting held on Alexander van Breda’s lovely farm Boshof, it was resolved ""to establish a separate congregation with the consent and under the guidance of their ministers"".
Before a new congregation could be formed it was necessary to obtain the consent of both the church authorities and the government. Sir John Truter, the first Chief Justice of the Cape Colony, who lived in the vicinity of Camp Ground Road, Rondebosch, was particularly helpful in this connection. As a result of the great influence he exercised personally, as a church man and as ""Political Commissioner"" representing the government in the Synod of the Church, it was a simple matter for him to obtain the permission of the Church Council of Cape Town and the permission of the Governor.
The first service of the new congregation took place on Sunday, 20th September, 1829, on the farm of E. A. Buyskes, “De Onder Schuur” now known as Westbrooke. On that occasion the relieving minister, the Rev. Abraham Faure, performed christenings and inducted the first members of the “kerkraad”.
At first the services of the congregation were held in the ample sitting-rooms of various farmhouses, and later a school bnilding belonging to the government was used. The question of building a church was raised at the original meeting at Boshof but there was a difference of opinion whether it should be built at Driekoppen (Mowbray) or at Wynberg.
Within a month of the establishment of the new congregation the “Kerkraad” applied to the government for land for a church, but the request was only granted on 3rd March, 1831, when the land on which the present church stands was granted on condition that the building was started within nine months and completed within a further nine months.
The Church Council must have been prepared for this, for the foundation stone was laid on 24th March, 1831, by the worthy Sir John Truter in the presence of the Governor, Sir Lowry Cole, representatives of the Lutheran Church and “a number of respectable residents and members of the church”. The building was completed within the prescribed eighteen months and opened on Sunday, 30th September 1832. The Governor, his wife, Sir John Truter, P. B. Borcherds and other prominent people again attended the function. Two years later the congregation got its first minister, the Rev. Philip Eduard Faure, who served it for no less than fifty years.
The original church was a hall, 24 metres long and 8 m wide; in 1837 or slightly later the little bell-towers and side rooms, designed by Mr. Faure, were added.
As a result of the forceful work of Mr. Faure, the members of the congregation and particularly its Coloured adherents increased so rapidly in number that the Church had to be enlarged. In August, 1842, work commenced on two additional wings and the
enlarged building was opened on 30th April, 1843, in the presence of a large crowd which included the popular Governor, Sir Benjamin D’Urban.
The Rev. A. Faure (who later became Dr. Faure) was succeeded by the Rev. P. A. Strassheim (1883-1895) and the Rev. A. J. L. Hofmeyr (1895-1899). Once again the church became too small and on 24th November, 1896, shortly after the arrival of Mr. Hofmeyr, the Church Council was instructed to raise funds and undertake the building of a new church. The new church was built to a considerable extent on the cruciform plan of the church of 1842-1843, and in some places the old walls were probably retained. It is said that the granite pillars that support the central part of the roof were donated by Cecil John Rhodes. The cost of the church was a mere R8 000, while the fine organ cost R2 000.
The new church was opened on 17th March, 1899. The Rev. C. F. J. Muller, who later became a professor at the Theological College at Stellenbosch, delivered the address at the ceremony.
Proclaimed 1965"
Visual Description: Church halls: Two parallel rectangular halls; double pitched roof with asbestos cement slates to earlier hall and cement tiles to new addition; Steel casement windows; standard modern stock doors.
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Condition:
Construction Date: 1897
Materials:
Catalogue: Rennie & Riley, 1987, No: 1.01, Significance Category:

Admin Comments:
Bibliography archive: Martin 27
 
 

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