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History: From the Tugela the main road follows the picturesque coastal belt as far as Gingindhlovu where it swings to the left towards Eshowe, 24 kilometres further on. On the eastern outskirts of Eshowe there is an old cemetery surrounded by earthworks and a deep trench. This is the old Fort Kwamondi which contains the Norwegian cemetery.
The Zulu War broke out in 1879. The British Commander-in-Chief, Lord Chelmsford, decided to invade Zululand with three army forces operating from different directions. The right-hand column consisted of 4 400 men under the command of Col. C. Pearson and was assembled at Fort Pearson on the Tugela River. On 11th January, 1879, this column entered Zululand at Bond’s Drift opposite Fort Pearson and moved towards the Norwegian mission station known as Kwamondi at Eshowe. On the way there it was attacked at Inyezane by a Zulu force of 5 000, but the Zulus were beaten off with the loss of 300 men. The British losses were 12 killed and 16 wounded.
Pearson continued his march to Eshowe. On his arrival there on 15th January he learned of the disaster that had overtaken Chelmsford at Isandhlwana. Now, threatened by an overwhelming Zulu force, he was obliged to form a laager and to protect it by throwing up earth- works. There he was besieged by the Zulus for two months, so closely that the dead had to be buried inside the laager. It was only on 4th April, when the supplies of food and ammunition were almost exhausted, and the health of the men had been seriously affected by the continuous rain, that Chelmsford was able to relieve the fort.
After the departure of the military forces the laager was used by the Norwegian missionaries as a cemetery. One of the first civilians to be buried there was the missionary Oftebro who was one of those who had founded the mission station in 1861.
Visual Description: Misnomer (according to Eshowe Borough 1994-02-14) - the KwaMondi Mission Station was transformed by
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Construction Date: 1879
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