Carnarvon | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 30°58′S22°08′E / 30.967°S 22.133°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Northern Cape |
District | Pixley ka Seme |
Municipality | Kareeberg |
Established | 1853 [1] |
Area | |
• Total | 108.75 km2 (41.99 sq mi) |
Elevation | 1,309 m (4,295 ft) |
Population (2011) [2] | |
• Total | 6,612 |
• Density | 61/km2 (160/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Coloured | 86.8% |
• White | 7.6% |
• Black African | 4.8% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.3% |
• Other | 0.5% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 96.2% |
• English | 1.6% |
• Other | 2.3% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 8925 |
PO box | 8925 |
Area code | +2753 |
Website | http://www.carnarvon.co.za/ |
Carnarvon is a small town in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
Carnarvon was established in 1853 [1] on a route between Cape Town and Botswana that was followed by early explorers and traders. It was originally established as a mission station of the Rhenish Missionary Society and named Harmsfontein. The Rhenish missionaries also established Schietfontein to the west, which later developed into a village. In 1874 Harmsfontein was renamed Carnarvon in honour of the British Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon (1831–1890). [3] [4]
The town is known for its corbelled houses - domed-roof houses constructed from flat stones - which were built between 1811 and 1815. [3]
The Afrikaans poet A.G. Visser had strong associations with Carnarvon, and the house where he lived in the town still stands. [3]
Carnarvon Museum contains exhibits on the region's cultural history. [3] The building was constructed in 1907, and was originally the community hall for the Dutch Reformed Church before being donated to the municipality when a new community centre was constructed in 1973. The museum holds a number of antiques related to the area, including an old hearse previously used by the Dutch Reformed Church. A corbelled house is preserved outside the museum, which was relocated from a nearby farm. [5]
A fort was constructed by the Cape administration on top of the hill that overlooks Carnarvon during the Second Boer War. The hill, now named Koeëlkop (after the Afrikaans word for bullet, koeël), is now used for a water reservoir; the remains of the fort were later rebuilt. [5]
Year | Population | Reference |
---|---|---|
2001 | 5235 | South African National Census of 2001 [6] |
2011 | 6612 | South African National Census of 2011 [2] |
Carnarvon is a busy farming centre. Its main agricultural activity is [dorper] sheep farming. [3]
The town centre has a Spar store. [7]
The MeerKAT radio telescope array is under construction in the Meerkat National Park around 90 km from Carnarvon. [8] The core of the Square Kilometre Array will also be constructed on the same site. [9]
There are three tarred roads out of Carnarvon. The road west to the picturesque Williston and Calvinia and the road south and then east to Victoria West are numbered as part of the R63 provincial route, while the road east to Britstown is numbered as the R384 regional route.
Carnarvon Airport accommodates light and ultra-light aircraft.[ citation needed ]
Carnarvon was also served by a station on the branch railway line from Hutchinson to Calvinia, which was closed in 2001.
The modern public library meets the needs of all readers and the local high school is capable of preparing pupils to virtually follow any career path. With a hostel, the school offers accommodation to pupils whose families do not live close to town.[ citation needed ]
In 1875, the NG Church was established and the first pastor was Rev. WP de Villiers, pastor of NG Beaufort West. For 30 Years Rev. de Villiers was head of the NG Church. As there were no schools, the pastor, when his duties allowed, and his wife started a teaching school. The first church was built using stone. At a total cost of £12,000 equivalent to £1,428,000in 2023 the first church was inaugurated in February 1882. But the cornerstone reads: "Deze steen werd gelegd in de naam van die Vader, Zoon en Heilige Geest. 23 September 1880.", stating 23 September 1880 as the inaugurated date. The adult professing NG Church membership was 830 in 1979, 660 in 1999, 468 in 2000, 406 in 2007 and 375 in 2012.[ citation needed ]
Paarl is a town with 285,574 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington. It is situated about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province and is known for its scenic environment and viticulture and fruit-growing heritage.
Stellenbosch is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated about 50 kilometres east of Cape Town, along the banks of the Eerste River at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountain. The town became known as the City of Oaks or Eikestad in Afrikaans and Dutch due to the large number of oak trees that were planted by its founder, Simon van der Stel, to grace the streets and homesteads.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), and headquarters, are located at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the United Kingdom. The SKA cores are being built in the southern hemisphere, where the view of the Milky Way galaxy is the best and radio interference is at its least.
Villiers is a small town situated on the banks of the Vaal River next to the N3 highway in the Free State province of South Africa. It was founded in 1882 on the two farms Pearson Valley and Grootdraai owned by Lourens de Villiers.
The R63 is a tarred provincial route in South Africa that connects Calvinia with Komga via Carnarvon, Victoria West, Graaff-Reinet, Somerset East and King William's Town. It is cosigned with the N10 between Eastpoort and Cookhouse for 24 kilometres.
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The Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) is a radio astronomy observatory, located in a natural bowl of hills at Hartebeesthoek just south of the Magaliesberg mountain range, and about 50 km west of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. It is a National Research Facility run by South Africa's National Research Foundation. HartRAO was the only major radio astronomy observatory in Africa until the construction of the KAT-7 test bed for the future MeerKAT array in the Meerkat National Park.
Williston is a town in Northern Cape, South Africa. Town 103 km north-east of Calvinia and 140 km south-west of Carnarvon.
MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Radio Telescope in Africa, and the locally designed and built MeerKAT was incorporated into the first phase of the SKA. MeerKAT was launched in 2018.
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.
Hutchinson is a village and former railway junction in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located 12 kilometres (7 mi) south-east of Victoria West, on the Cape Town–Kimberley railway line. According to the 2011 census it has 367 residents.
KAT-7 is a radio telescope situated in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. Developed as the precursor engineering test bed to the larger MeerKAT telescope, previously known as Karoo Array Telescope (KAT), it has become a science instrument in its own right. The construction was completed in 2011 and commissioning in 2012. It also served as a technology demonstrator for South Africa's bid to host the Square Kilometre Array. KAT-7 is the first Radio telescope to be built with a composite reflector and uses a stirling pump for 75 K cryogenic cooling. The telescope was built to test various system for the MeerKAT array, from the ROACH correlators designed and manufactured in Cape Town, now used by various telescopes internationally, to composite construction techniques.
Jamestown, also known as Webersvallei plus Mountain View, is a quiet rural settlement on the southern outskirts of Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands District of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated next to Blaauwklippen Vineyards, on the eastern side of route R44 from Stellenbosch to Somerset West and the Strand coastal resort. The main access from the R44 is via Webersvallei Road, the main road in Jamestown with watererven – long, narrow agricultural plots on the south bank of Blouklip River – on the north side of the road and residential plots on the south side of the road.
David Jacobus de Villiers was an ordained minister in the Dutch Reformed Church; a South African Government minister and a Springbok rugby captain.
The Northern Cape Heritage Resources Authority, previously called Ngwao Boswa jwa Kapa Bokone, and commonly known as 'Boswa', is a provincial heritage resources authority established in 2003 by the MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, and reconstituted in terms of the Northern Cape Heritage Resources Authority Act, 2013. It is an institution set up under the terms of the National Heritage Resources Act. It is mandated to care for that part of South Africa's national estate that is of provincial and local significance in the Northern Cape.
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