Fraserburg

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Fraserburg

Location Fraserburg: Approximately 120km east of Sutherland

Region: Namakwa

Nearby Towns: Williston, Loxton, Sutherland

 The unusual Pepper-box

Named after a Scottish cleric and immigrant, Rev Colin Fraser, Fraserburg was founded in the West Nuweveld in 1851 on a high plateau north of the Nuweveld Mountains. The town is full of well-preserved Victorian buildings. It was in Fraseburg that law agent HWA Cooper began writing the culturally important "Boerebrieven" for Het Volksblad in 1870. 

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Bushmen and signs of their culture can still be found in the vicinity.

Fraserburg offers the following:

  • Flowers just as beautiful as in Namaqualand,
  • Hunting - Enjoy yourself together with your business friends on a unique hunting safari,
  • Hours of fun on the Town Dam.
Fraserburg is situated on a plateau to the north of the Nuweveld Mountains at a height of 1 260 m above sea level. The nearest Railway station is Leeu Gamka on the N1 between Cape Town and Beaufort West. Fraserburg is connected with Leeu Gamka by a tarred road of 114 km.

Location Fraserburg: 

Map Fraserburg: 

Accommodation Fraserburg 

Explore Fraserburg 

Breastworks 
15 Schalkwyk Street. Partial remains of a wall, built in 1870, as protection during a possible war with the Koranna. Used during the Anglo-Boer War.
Corbelled Houses 
Unique to the area.
Gansfontein Palaeo Surface 
The rocks exposed here were originally deposited some 250 million years ago. On the farm Riethuisies there is a distinct trace fossil of a gastropod and the same trace fossil was found recently in Antartica, of great importance for Palaeontologists.
Peperbus 
The six-sided Peperbus designed by the Reverend Bamberger and built by Adam Jacobs in 1861 as an office has housed the church, the magistrate and the municipality. 
Power Magazine Depot 
Used by British forces during the Anglo-Boer War. 
Anglican Church (1870) 
The Church of St. Augustines was completed in 1870. The architect was the well-known Sophia Gray, wife of the Bishop Robert Gray of Cape Town. This church was built in the Gothic Style and of local stone. There is no steeple and the bell hangs in a separate belltower next to the church. 
Old Parsonage Museum
Built in 1856 for the Rev CA Bamberger, the first minister to the newly established congregation, at a cost of £1 100. It has a unique floor plan as four of the interior walls are curved. The building contract specified that 100 planks of yellowwood should be used. Presently the building houses a museum collection and an exhibition of fossils.
Pepperpot 
The six-sided structure, unique in South Africa, has become the symbol of Fraserburg. It was built by Adam Jacobs in 1861. The bell was rung whenever fire broke out, as well as an evening curfew rung at nine pm when all coloureds were expected to be out of the town. Even after the curfew was no longer required, the bell continued to be rung at this time until the 1950s.
Powder Magazine
Erected by John Findlay in 1870, to store ammunition in case war should break out with the Korannas under leadership of Kupido Pofadder, to limit danger from fire. It was also used by the British troops during the Anglo-Boer War.
Power Station
2 Voortrekker Street. The town obtained its first direct current in 1938. During September 1956 this was converted to alternating current, and on 24 June 1983 Fraserburg received its first Eskom power. Seven Lister Blackstone engines may still be seen.
Walking Route 
A map can be purchased at the local museum in Fraserburg.