History
Until the arrival of Dutch colonists in 1652, the uncultivated veld of theVillage (1840–1886)
A village began to develop on the main road near Feldhausen in the 1830s, and by 1840 it had become known as 'Claremont'. The annual ''Cape Almanac'' for 1840 described the area and stated that :The new village of 'Claremont' succeeds, near to which, on the left, is 'Claremont House', the property of R. Waters Esq, who has lately laid out the grounds with much taste, in the manner usually known as the English style of landscape gardening.The village grew during the 1840s and 1850s. Public transport consisted of horse-drawn omnibuses which plied along the Main Road from 1837 until the railway was opened in 1864. In 1845 the timber merchant Ralph Henry Arderne started work on what would become the Arderne Gardens. The gardens, by then regionally renowned, were bought by the municipal government and turned into a public park in 1928. In 1863, the Anglo-Italian immigrant and businessman John Molteno, who was later to become the
Municipality (1886–1913)
In 1882, a village management board was formed, and in 1886 it was replaced by the Municipality of Claremont, which managed neighbouring Newlands too. The privately owned Claremont Hall was taken over as a town hall. The first telephone system was installed in the early 1880s. There was further residential development, with the subdivision of the Claremont House, Lansdowne, Milburn House, and Paradise estates in the 1890s. An electricity power station was built, and an electric tramway service was introduced in 1897. The housing boom which followed the Anglo-Boer War saw the subdivision of further estates in the 1900s. Most streets were named in 1903–1904, many of them thematically (e.g. after saints, explorers, British counties and towns, American presidents, and British politicians).Hart, P. (1999). ''Claremont, Newlands and Bishopscourt Street Names''Suburb (1913– )
In 1913, Claremont and several other municipalities were incorporated into the city of Cape Town. Considerable residential growth took place in the 1920s and 1930s, when estates such as Palmyra, Keurboom, Ravensworth, Sanatorium Estate, The Vineyard, Wyndover, and Edinburgh Estate were subdivided and developed. An additional railway station, named "Harfield Road", was built in 1931. The government enforced itsPlaces of worship
Claremont places of worship, past and present: * Claremont Congregational Church (1840- ) * Claremont Mosque (1851- ) * St Saviour's Church (Anglican) (1854- ) * St Matthew's Church (Anglican) (1888- ) * Claremont Methodist Church (1890s- ) * Salvation Army Claremont Temple (1898– ) * Claremont Baptist Church (1902- ) * Claremont Wynberg Hebrew Congregation (1904- ) * New Apostolic Church (1905- ) * Old Apostolic Church * Harvey Road Mosque (1908- ) * Al-Jamiah Mosque (1911- ) * Seventh Day Adventist Church * St Ignatius Church (Roman Catholic) (1930- ) * East Claremont Congregational Church (1932- ) * Christ the King (Anglican) (1941- ) * St Stephen's Church (Reformed Evangelical Church REACH SA - formerly Church of England) (1941- ) * Dutch Reformed Church (1941–1991) * St Bernard's Church (Roman Catholic) (1955- ) * Christian Science Church (1959- ) * Assembly of God * Church of the Nazarene (1975- ) * Bethany Fellowship Full Gospel ChurchSchools
Some Claremont schools, past and present: * Mrs Harris's (later Mrs Midgley's) seminary (1840–1849) * St Saviour's Grammar School (1878–1885) * Grove Primary School (1885- ) * Claremont Primary school (1892- ) * Union College (1893- ) – in 1919 it moved to Spion Kop close to Ladysmith in Natal. In 1928 it moved to Somerset West and was renamed Helderberg College. Today it is called Helderberg College Of Higher Education. * Western Province Primary School (1913- ) * Talfalah Institute (1917- ) – moved to Athlone in 1971 * Herschel Girls School (1922- ) * Lady Buxton Children's Home (1923- ) * Livingstone High School (1926- ) * Rosmead Central Primary School (1940- ) * Barkly House (1945- ) * Batavia School * Oasis Association (1952- ) * Greenfield Girls' Primary School (1957- ) * Bel Porto School for Severely Mentally Handicapped * Abbott's College * Claremont High School * Sans Souci Girls' High SchoolCommerce and industry
Some Claremont businesses, past and present: * Oasis Association (1965–present) * Coimbra Bakery (1964- ) * Orchard's Hotel (later Crown Hotel) (1836-c1969) * Lansdowne (later Claremont) Hotel (1880s-2001) * F.J. Pearce & Co (1882–1966) * Hall's Pharmacy (1892-1970s) * Vineyard Hotel (1893- ) * Henshilwoods (1894–1998) * Brenner's Stores (1904- ) * Pavilion Cinema (1912-1930s) * Star (later Orpheum) Cinema (1912-1960s) * Scala (later Protea) Cinema (1938–1992) * Cavendish Square shopping mall (1973- ) * Werdmuller Centre shopping mall (1975- ) * Kenilworth Centre shopping mall (1974- ) * The Atrium (now Stadium-on-Main) shopping centre (1990- ) * Heritage College * Cape Town School of English * Cape Town International School of Languages * Adèle Beauty Therapy School * Cape Town School of Eurythmy * School of Practical Philosophy Many national banks and chains of shops have branches in Claremont.Sport
Some Claremont sports clubs and facilities, past and present: * Claremont Cricket Club (1876- ) – no longer in Claremont * Kenilworth Racecourse (1882- ) –Medical
Claremont's first medical facility may have been the temporary isolation hospital set up during the 1882Public amenities
* Claremont Post Office (1846-2019) * Claremont Town Hall (1879–1946) * Claremont Library (1897- ) * Arderne Gardens (1927- ) * Clareinch Nurses' War Memorial Home (1934- ) – moved to Pinelands in the 1960s * Janet Bourhill Institute (1944- ) – moved to Bonteheuwel in the 1970s * Clareinch Post Office (1936- ) * Claremont Civic Centre (1960- )Footnotes
References
* Field, S. (Ed) (2001). ''Lost Communities, Living Memories''. * Henshilwood, N. (1972). ''A Cape Childhood''. * Louw, J. & Malan L. (1984). ''The Louws of Louwvliet''. * Murray, J. (1958). ''Claremont Album''. * Playne, S. (1911). ''Cape Colony – Its Commerce, Industry and Resources''. * Tredgold, A. (1990). ''The Ardernes and their Garden''.External links