Sites

Archive Import
History: This remarkable little building which houses a unique collection of Voortrekker relics is situated in Church Street, below Market Square.
When the Voortrekkers entered Natal from the Orange Free State in the beginning of 1837, they suffered dreadful disasters at the hand of the Zulus. Piet Retief and his hand-picked followers were murdered at Mgungundhlovu ; at Italeni, Potgieter and Piet Uys were defeated and Uys was killed ; after that the Zulus confined the Voortrekkers to their laagers and subjected them to constant attacks. Determined to put an end to this state of affairs, a Voortrekker commando 460 strong under the able command of Comdt. Gen. A. W. J. Pretorius advanced against the Zulus in December, 1838.
From a military point of view, the advance was perfectly planned and organized but, steeped as they were in the Christian religion, the Voortrekkers believed that their success depended above all on the will of God. At the instigation of Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers the commando took a solemn vow that if they were victorious, they would observe the day of the victory as a sabbath and day of thanksgiving, and that they would ‘found a House in memory of His great name’.
After the victory at Blood River on 16th December, 1838, the Voortrekkers honoured their vow. Pietermaritzburg became the capital of the Republic of Natalia and they decided that the Church of the Vow should be built there. Until then the Voortrekker minister Erasmus Smit had held his services in a ‘reed church’ and in the house of Piet Retief’s widow. During 1839 a fund for building the Church of the Vow was opened. Although contributions came in even from the Orange Free State and the Cape, the total mounted slowly, since the Voortrekkers were poor. However, there was no lack of desire to contribute. Those who could not offer cash, contributed in kind: one person might give several loads of stone, while someone else might bring some other material.
Building began at the end of April, 1840, and the church was opened amid scenes of great enthusiasm in the following year. But it had a flat roof of planks that leaked so much that the building could not be used when it rained. Additional funds were collected and the church was eventually given two gables and a pitched roof of thatch.
Four ministers served in this church in succession. Having failed to obtain a minister from the Cape Colony, the Volksraad in 1841 approved the appointment of the Rev. Daniel Lindley, a venerable American missionary, as minister to the Voortrekker congregation in Natal. Lindley’s successors were J. L. Döhne, a Berlin missionary who served until 1853, Dr. H. E. Faure until 1859 and finally the Rev. D. P. M. Huet who succeeded Dr. Faure in 1860.
The old Church of the Vow gradually became too small and in 1855 the Church Council decided to build a new church. This church was inaugurated on 7th April, 1861. The old church was first let as a school and eventually, in 1873, it was sold. It was then used successively as a school, a blacksmith’s shop, a mineral water factory, a chemist’s shop and a tea-room.
In 1908 a movement was started to preserve the historic church building for the descendants of the Voortrekkers. The Church Council appointed a committee for this purpose and in 1909 a country wide appeal for funds was launched. The building was acquired and in 1910 it was transferred to the three members of the fund raising committee: G. M. Pellissier, E. G. Jansen and J. Hershensohnn. More money was collected which made it possible to restore the whole property and to renovate the building completely. Graceful Cape-Dutch gables replaced the original simple ones and eventually a front porch was added.
It was decided to use the building as a museum and to hand it over to the Government for preservation. On the Day of the Covenant, 1912, it was opened as a museum of Voortrekker relics by Gen. Schalk Burger and accepted by the Union Government, to whom it was formally transferred at a later date.
The building now houses a large collection of objects associated with the Voortrekkers.
Proclaimed 1937
Visual Description: Single storey building with plastered shale stone walls. Front and rear Cape Dutch gables added at l
Colours:
Site Features: Trees in memorial garden planted on occassion of opening of museum 16 December 1912.
Condition: good
Construction Date: 1840
Materials: brick : tile
Catalogue: , No: , Significance Category: