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PLACES OF INTEREST
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| Housed
at the Museum, the Information Centre carries information on the Battlefields
Route, the surrounding district and Bed & Breakfast establishments.
Tel 033-4131171 ext 128. One can also purchase local crafts - spears, shields, beadwork, woodcarving and Zulu dolls, produced at Keate's Drift. |
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| A
cairn on the farm Honeyfontein situated on the Pietermaritzburg road marks
the spot where in 1862 Louis Botha was born, the 8th of 13 children.
The Heine Spruit was in flood and his mother couldn't make it back to Greytown to the family farm Onrust! He attended the Hermannsburg Mission School and left the district at the age of about 12. Louis was to become Commandant-General of Transvaal forces after distinguishing himself at Ladysmith, Colenso and Spioenkop during the South Africa War. Later in 1910 he became the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa and in 1919 he attended the peace Conference in Versailles. |
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| Commandant of
Boer Forces was also born in Greytown. |
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| The Museum is situated in
Scott Street between Durban and Voortrekker Streets in a building
erected by Dr Birtwell in 1879 and sold to the Colonial Government as
"The Residency" or "Drostdy" for the local
magistrate. It remained as such until 1971 when the then Magistrate
found it unacceptable
and persuaded the authorities to build a new residence on adjoining
land. The then Borough Council acquired the property and the Museum was officially
opened on 17 August 1973 by the Administrator of Natal, Ben Havemann.
It is now a National Monument and considered
to be one of the best small museums in the country
Open Monday to Friday 08:00 to 16:00 and
some Sundays
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| This lake nestles
in picturesque wooded "Little Canada" surroundings and supplies the town
with water. The lake is a popular, all water sports and fishing venue with several cottages, camping sites and ablution blocks. Booking Box 71, Greytown, 3250 Tel: 033-4131115 Fax: 033-4171393. |
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| This hill 45
km from Greytown on the Stanger road, overlooks the Tugela River,
which meanders nearly 700m below. An interesting tribal legend dating
to the days of Shaka tells of the rock splitting to hide a Chief's son
and his bride from cannibals. Only they knew the secret song of Ntunjambili which would open giving them access to a hidden cave. Click here to read the full story. A British officer, during the Zulu war, is believed to have been the first european to climb the Kop and as proof of his achievement, he left his shirt hanging on a tree and it remained there for many, many years. From the eyrie of the Kop one can view black eagles, rock kestrels, white-necked ravens, lanner falcons, rock pigeons, red winged starlings, alpine and black swifts, lesser- and larger-striped swallows. |
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| Off the D479
on the way to Stanger. The song "Sarie Marais" is based on the American "My Darling Ellie Rhee" and gets its name from Sarie Mare (note spelling) who married at 17 and died two days after having given birth to her eleventh child at age 35. |
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| Aya Jana who
as a small child was orphaned when the Voortrekkers and Matabeles under
Mzilikatzi did battle. She was taken in by the Voortrekkers and was with
them when the Zulus attacked the Voortrekkers at Bloukrans near Weenen. While seriously wounded she escaped with her life by feigning death while being prodded with assegais. She was nursed back to health and adopted by the Mare family, an Aunt and Uncle of Sarie, raised as one of their children and went on to live to the ripe old age of 93. Honour was bestowed on her at the historic festival of the Voortrekker Vow in December of 1912, where she planted a tree to commemmorate the event and took her place on a bench with all the VIPs - which included among others, the then Governor of Natal C.J. Smythe, the wife of Andries Pretorius (she must have been ancient!), the Advocate E.G. Jansen who later became Governor General of the Union of South Africa. Click
here to see a photo of what we suspect is her grave. We would
welcome any information that can assist in pin-pointing the exact site
so that the Monuments Council can be approached to preserve the site.
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| 38 Km on the
Stanger Road, popular until the 60s when it was favourably compared to
the best in Europe. It is now in the process of being re-vamped.
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| In the Tugela
Valley below Kranskop. Although there are no formal camping
facilities, many families have made their annual treks and set up camp
at their sites at Shu Shu during July for generations. The annual
gathering now re-unites people from all over South Africa. Tel:
011 433 2344
and 082 459 4473. |
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| Settled by missionaries
in 1854 next to Deutsche Schule Hermannsburg - open until 12:00 a.m.
Tel: 033 4450405(w) (h)033 4450621. Bursar's office Tel: 0334 450714. |
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| In 1906 a poll
tax instead of the usual hut tax was imposed on the local Zulus.
This coupled with numerous other issues resulted in the rebelling of several
tribal chiefs including Bambatha. The inhabitants of Greytown went into laager in the Greytown Town Hall and a column of police were sent to collect two women and a child from the Marshall Hotel (Keates Drift road) and the Storekeeper's wife from Keates Drift. On their return with shouts of Usuthu, they were ambushed at the rock 23 km on Keates Drift Road, 4 policemen were killed. This resulted in what is known as the "BAMBATHA REBELLION" the appalling loss of 70 rebels at Pukunyoni, over 600 at Isuzi and 575 at Mome Gorge. More information on this enigmatic Bambatha at the Greytown Museum. In 1968 one Mishak Mthalane was at the offices of Attorneys Nel & Stevens and they needed to know his age. He didn't know so Interpreter Gilbert Maphanga tried to find out what major events Mishak could remember and how tall he was at the time hoping to set a guideline to estimate Mishak's age. Mishak said that he taken part in the Bambatha Rebellion. When Tiny Stevens heard this he asked Gilbert to take a statement from Mishak. Click here to read the statement of a soldier in Bambatha's Impi. We have received a letter from
the grand-daughter of the doctor who had to cut off Bambatha's head. Click
here to read the letter.
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| 13 km out on
Keate's Drift/Dundee road is a Memorial erected in memory of the four policemen including
Trooper Aston and his dog, killed at Ambush Rock.
It is alleged that Sgt Brown's body was only found the next day badly
mutilated - his moustache was carried around to encourage Zulu men to
join up with the rebels, while parts of his body were made into medicine
to make warriors immune to bullets. |
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| The foundation
stone was laid in 1897 but the building was only opened in 1904 after redesigning
by Street Wilson on original plans drawn up by Stott and Tomlinson. The
Towns' resources had been drained by the Anglo Boer war, so the building
was only partially completed in 1898. |
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| Built in 1877
- this is the oldest church in Greytown - Gothic style.
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| The bell bought
in 1861 was used to summon the Dutch and English community to church.
A combination of events, including an altercation by the Bishop Macrorie and Bishop Colenso , Rev Taylor and Rev Turnbull of the English and Dutch reformed churches respectively, arguing that their services were being interrupted, led to three young bucks in town stealing the bell and burying it. The bell which now hangs in an archway was found seventy four years later when the foundations were dug for the Concordia cottages. The full story of the bell is being researched by Tiny Christie and will be published here soon. Please send us any information you might have that might assist. A stone and two yellowwood trees commemorate the visit of the Ossewa Trek in 1938 on the centenary of the Great Trek. The first church built in 1856 was destroyed by a cyclone. Sir Henry Bulwer, Lieutenant Governor with a naval Hussars guard of honour, opened the new church on 07/04/1883 |
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| Initially constructed
of wood and iron was built in 1898. The present one was built in
1946 and can accommodate two hundred worshippers. It is situated
in Bell Street. There is also the Madressa Hidayatul Islam School.
On the walls of the Mosque are quranic verses. In this respect Prof.
Lakhi and his Kufi writings will be remembered. Five times a day
the Moazzin calls people to prayer on Friday afternoon being most important.
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| In 1910 the late
Baboo Dakka Singh donated two roods of land and the first religious centre
started in a wood and iron building. In 1926 a vernacular school was established
and a temple was opened in 1933, in 1973 the old temple was demolished
to make way for the present one. The Lotus flower on the dome symbolises the aim of the Temple, which is to educate people about spiritual life. As the lotus flower floats on the surface of water, so too should one live on the material plain, but never be drowned by it, while the spiritual dimension of one's existence should always remain above one's material existence. |
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| This is the second
church to be built on this plot, the original site now being a garden
of remembrance. The original archway and stained glass windows brought from England in 1874 from the first church 1867 have been incorporated into the front porch. It is built of local stone, with the knave columns designed by Street Wilson, coming from Bath, England. The sculpture behind the altar was executed by the famous South African Sculptor Mary Stainbank. The organ was donated by the Philanthropist Carnegie on condition a plaque was erected in his memory. This has never been done. |
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| Constructed of
stone from the original old Greytown Court House and was paid for by Sir
George Leuchars, Minister of Agriculture under the Prime Minister Louis
Botha during the first Union of South Africa parliament in 1910.
He was also O.C. of the Umvoti Mounted Rifles 1898 - 1908
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| The land was
donated by Major Theodore Menne and the Church was built about 1915.
A convent of St Dominics was once attached to it which was closed in 1967.
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| Next to the Theodore
Menne Library, this the oldest hall in Greytown, was built as a Masonic
Hall in 1880 and then became the headquarters of the Umvoti Mounted Rifles.
It is now used by the PWD. |
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| This was built
in 1905 and sadly was sold when a new one was built. It has recently been
destroyed by fire. |
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| The house was
built in the late 1870's by Ignatius Marthinus van Rooyen, who in 1897
was a member of the first Town Board. It was converted into a restaurant,
then a shop, then as a result of a fire, the authorities insisted it be
pulled down. The house and one wall of the stables still remains
on Shepstone Street. |
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| Fort Dartnell
near the saleyards was demolished by the authorities.
Fort Mispah, erected by Mr Menne in 1897, overlooks the Umvoti Vlei. Only the foundations remain. Fort Ahrens (off D110 on Kranskop Road) Fort Liddle, Fort Montgomery, Fort Cherry, Fort Buckingham and Fort Cross. |
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| Home to "Chummy"
a Border Collie TV star and subject of many books by local Brenda Munitich
- he paw marks his books. Also pony rides, working dogs and caterers for birthday parties. Tel. 033-4133341. |
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| Vintage and veteran
farm tractors of English and American manufacture dating between 1920
and 1953. 3km from Greytown on the way to Mooirivier Contact Nick March 033-4171405. |
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| Mr A. Matola,
Fortune Teller and Herbalist. He believes one should hear the good and
the bad.Tel. 033-4133565. Musa Ali, Herbal medicines and potions, house bonding and personal protection against Evil. |
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| A visual delight of powders and potions in Bell Street. | ||||
