church - Firefly

Tsitsikamma Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed presence in the Tsitsikamma region goes back considerably further than the present Dutch Reformed Church building in Sanddrift. The Uitenhage Dutch Reformed congregation was established 1817, and the western part of the Uitenhage Division stretched from the Gamtoos River westwards as far as the Bloukrans River. This large rural area was served spiritually from Uitenhage, with Rev. Alexander Smith ministering to the district for about 40 years from 1821. This is important because it shows that Dutch…

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08/09/2026

Firefly Travel Blog

The St Andrews Anglican Church and Anglo-Boer War memorial in Pearston

The town of Pearston, like so many of the small towns and villages scattered across the Karoo, had its origins as a parish of the Dutch Reformed Church. A notice to establish a church and a town was published in the Kerkbode in 1858, and the town and church were established in September 1859. The church bought a suitable farm, subdivided it into lots, reserved some of the plots for its own purposes and then offered the remainder for sale…

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25/04/2025

Firefly Travel Blog

Tarkastad Dutch Reformed Church – A big church in a small town

The small town of Tarkastad is located between Cradock and Queenstown on the R61. It's off the beaten track and most people passing through are traveling between the Transkei area and the Western Cape. Tarkastad has a PEP stores so it can be termed a town. Anything without I would call a village. It's still very small though and I only got to visit it for the first time recently when my son moved there for his first job. The…

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10/01/2025

Firefly Travel Blog

A Moravian Mission church in Clarkson in the Tsitsikamma

I'd like to think I know most of the western part of the Eastern Cape very well. Places like the Tsitsikamma I know like the back of my hand, so I couldn't figure out why I have never been to the Moravian Church in Clarkson when I saw a couple of photos of it on social media recently. Well, it was time for a detour. The village of Clarkson is a former mission station of the Moravian Mission Society. It…

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30/10/2024

Firefly Travel Blog

Somerset East’s Dutch Reformed Church at the top of Beaufort Street

Whenever I visit a new town the first thing I do is to go and find the town's Dutch Reformed Church. In most small towns in South Africa, they are the oldest church in a place and often a beautiful and interesting building. I did just that the first time I drove into Somerset East. These days I visit Somerset East a couple times a year but I still stop by the church every time to try and get a…

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04/10/2024

Firefly Travel Blog

The beautiful stone Dutch Reformed church in Kareedouw

Kareedouw is the first town you get when driving along the R62 through the Langkloof coming from the eastern side. Like the rest of the region, it's a beautiful area with the Tsitsikamma Mountains to the south and the Kouga Mountains to the north. Standing with its back to the Tsitsikamma Mountains facing the town is the Kareedouw Dutch Reformed Church. The Kareedouw congregation separated from the Humansdorp Moedergemeente on 9 February 1906. The first call for a minister was…

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13/09/2024

Firefly Travel Blog

The Victorian era designed Dutch Reformed Church of Jansenville

Each Karoo town has a different charm and atmosphere just like each one has an unique historic Dutch Reformed Church. The town of Jansenville is in no way any different. The Dutch Reformed Church in Jansenville is unusual in that the bell tower is separate from the church. The church is of typical Victorian-era design, complete with decorative plaster quoins on the corners of the exterior walls. The building was designed by prolific ecclesiastical architect Carl Otto Hager, whose plans…

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24/05/2024

Firefly Travel Blog

The All Saints United Church in Somerset East

In 1848, during his travels through the Eastern Cape, Bishop Gray of Cape Town paid a visit to the young town of Somerset. He was struck by the scarcity of clergyman having only seen one in 900 miles of travel from Cape Town. He undertook to arrange for some 20 Anglican ministers to emigrate from England, and because he believed that there were sufficient English settlers and others to support an Anglican Church, he promised to provide the area with…

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20/03/2024

Firefly Travel Blog

From a pear tree to a beautiful church – the story of the Pearston Dutch Reformed Church

I get disappointed if I visit a small town and find that there isn't a historic church somewhere to visit and photograph. One of the towns that didn't disappoint was Pearston. Located on a very flat landscape the church is easily spotted in the town's very limited skyline. The village of Pearston is located 48km west of Somerset East in the Eastern Cape's Karoo Heartland. Like so many of the small towns and villages of the Karoo, the village had…

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05/01/2024

Firefly Travel Blog

Steynsburg, the small town with a big church

The town of Steynsburg in the Eastern Cape's Karoo Heartland developed around the Reformed Church which was established in 1872 and was administered by a village management board controlled by the church. Steynsburg is named after Douwe Gerbrandt Steyn, grandfather of President Paul Kruger. The members of the Dutch Reformed Church from the district had to travel long distances (64km) to Burgersdorp by horse, horse cart and ox wagon to go to church and there was a need for their…

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25/01/2023