 The facade of the museum building. | |
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| Established | 1972 |
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| Location | Oudtshoorn, Western Cape |
| Coordinates | 33°35′31.46″S22°12′8.08″E / 33.5920722°S 22.2022444°E |
| Type | History museum |
| Website | www |
The CP Nel Museum is a museum in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, which houses exhibits depicting the role of the ostrich trade in the town's history, as well as the cultural history and lifestyle of the people of the Little Karoo region, as it was during the Victorian era and early 20th century. [1] [2]
The original building was designed and erected in 1906 by a local British architect, Charles Bullock, and was opened in 1907 as the Oudtshoorn Boys' High School. [3] A school hall was added to the building in 1912 by J.E. Vixeboxse. [4] [5]
By 1963, when Oudtshoorn's single-sex schools were amalgamated, the building was in such a state of disrepair that it was almost demolished. [5] However, a petition by the school's alumni convinced the National Monuments Commission to withdraw this recommendation. The Education Department decided instead to sell the building.[ to whom? ] [4] It was renamed in honour of Colonel CP Nel, who had bequeathed a valuable collection of antiques to the public. These antiques were transferred to the building in 1972, and the CP Nel Museum was officially opened. [5]
In 1979, the building was declared a national monument. [6]
The school hall has been repurposed as the "Ostrich Hall" in order to exhibit the history of the ostrich in the Little Karoo's development. It includes in its displays a rock that has carved into it an image of running ostriches, which was discovered in the Sahara Desert. [1] [7] "Feather-boom fashions" are also on display. [2] The museum also exhibits an early 20th-century pharmacy; a crockery collection; military history and weapons; musical instruments; and a garage of historical vehicles. [1] [8]
The CP Nel Museum is one of a few secular museums in the world to house a synagogue. At the suggestion of Isidore Barron, who had been a member of the museum's Board of Trustees, the Jewish gallery was opened in 1973. [8] This room is a reconstruction of the old St. John Street Synagogue as it was in 1896, [4] and depicts the contribution of Oudtshoorn's Lithuanian Jewish community to the ostrich industry. [2] The synagogue is still occasionally used for services. [8]
The ticket price includes admission to the Le Roux Townhouse, which is decorated in authentic Victorian-era furniture, and depicts a "feather palace" during the Ostrich booms. [7]
In 2014, the museum updated its material to recognise the historical forced removals of non-whites from Oudtshoorn, and made its explanatory notes available in English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa, the three official provincial languages of the Western Cape. [9] [10]
The building is a specimen of late Victorian, Colonial-style architecture, and the hall is built in the New Republican style. [4] [5]
The museum's 30-metre-high clock tower is adorned with Corinthian ornaments and is topped with a wrought-iron dome. The clock was made in England in 1902, and was transported in parts to Mossel Bay and then over the Outeniqua Mountains via ox-wagon. It had been ordered by Oudtshoorn resident Pierre Olivier in 1904, who decided to donate it to what was then the local boys' school. The clock was built into the tower in 1907. [4] [11]
The building's sandstone facade is considered one of the finest examples of stone masonry in the Little Karoo. [12] Willem Adriaan Cruywagen, the Minister of National Education who declared the building a national monument, gave the following reasoning for the certification: [6]
Designed in part by Bullock and Vixseboxe, the well known architects, it reflects the former's copiousness and the latter's Transvaal Republic influence. Especially worthy of note is the facade, with its harmonious blending of styles and its impressive dome tower. [...]
The Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.
Oudtshoorn Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of 2011 the population was 95,933.
Oudtshoorn, the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1870 and 1900–1914, truly established the settlement. With approximately 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest town in the Little Karoo region. The town's economy is primarily reliant on the ostrich farming and tourism industries. Oudtshoorn is home to the world's largest ostrich population, with a number of specialised ostrich breeding farms, such as the Safari Show Farm and the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm.
Route 62 is a tourist route in South Africa that meanders between Cape Town, Oudtshoorn, the Garden Route, and Port Elizabeth, offering the scenic alternative to the N2 highway. Route 62 is named for the R62 provincial route, which it follows from Montagu to Humansdorp, but the tourist route extends further along other highways to Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.
George is the second largest city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality.
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The Cango Caves are located in Precambrian limestones at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The principal cave is one of the country's finest, best known, and most popular tourist caves and attracts many visitors from overseas. Although the extensive system of tunnels and chambers go on for over 4 km, only about a quarter of this is open to visitors, who may proceed into the cave only in groups supervised by a guide.
Beaufort West is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beaufort West Local Municipality, with 34,085 inhabitants in 2011.
Ostrich leather is the result of tanning skins taken from African ostriches farmed for their feathers, skin and meat. The leather is distinctive for its pattern of bumps or vacant quill follicles, ranged across a smooth field in varying densities. It requires an intricate, specialised and expensive production process making its aesthetic value costly.
De Rust is a small village at the gateway to the Klein Karoo, South Africa. The name is Dutch and literally translates to "The Rest", referring to the town's original purpose of being a resting place for settlers en route through the challenging terrain of a nearby Swartberg gorge.
Amy Kleinhans-Curd is a South African beauty queen who was Miss South Africa 1992, the first non-white winner in the history of South Africa. She placed Top 5 to Miss World as Miss World Africa on 12 December 1992.
The R62 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Ashton with Humansdorp. The R62 runs through the Little Karoo and the Langkloof, passing through Montagu, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn, and Joubertina.
Victoria West is a town in the central Karoo region of South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is situated on the main N12 route, at an elevation of 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). It is the seat of the Ubuntu Local Municipality within the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality.
Calvinia is a regional town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa named after the French religious reformer Jean Calvin. The town falls under the Hantam Local Municipality which forms part of the Namakwa District Municipality. The Calvinia district is part of the Great Karoo region of South Africa. The town is just south of the Hantam mountains on the banks of the Oorlogskloof River.
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Huguenot Memorial Museum portrays the history of the French Huguenots who came to South Africa at the end of the seventeenth century. This is depicted in the museum. Displays are housed in the main building, and continue in the annex. The museum also has a shop, and is adjacent to the Huguenot Monument.
The Montagu Museum is a museum of Montagu, Western Cape
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Coordinates: 33°35′31″S22°12′07″E / 33.59194°S 22.20194°E
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