Gordon's Bay ( af, Gordonsbaai) is a

harbour town Harbour Town is a shopping centre concept that incorporates multiple factory outlets in one centre. As of February 2021, there are two locations owned and operated under the Harbour Town brand: Biggera Waters, on Queensland's Gold Coast, and ...

in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It is included in the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The remot ...

metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the

Helderberg Helderberg refers to a planning district of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the mountain after which it is named, a wine-producing area in the Western Cape province of South Africa, or a small census area in Somerset West. Or ...

region (formerly called Hottentots Holland). It is situated on the shores of Gordon's Bay in the northeastern corner of

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

about 58 km from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

to the south of the N2 national road and is named after

Robert Jacob Gordon Robert Jacob Gordon (29 September 1743, in Doesburg, Gelderland – 25 October 1795, in Cape Town) was a Dutch explorer, soldier, artist, naturalist and linguist of Scottish descent. Life Robert Jacob Gordon was the son of Maj. General Jacob ...

(1743–1795), the Dutch explorer of Scottish descent. Gordon's Bay is the smallest of three towns in the

region (

Somerset West Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottent ...

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

and Gordon's Bay), so named after the Helderberg Mountain which is part of the

Hottentots-Holland The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. The range is primarily composed of Ta ...

Mountains which border the locality on two sides. Gordon's Bay was originally named "Fish Hoek", many years before the town of the same name, located on the western side of False Bay, was founded. Evidence of this can be seen on the outside wall of the local

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

. Gordon's Bay consists of the old village, situated around the old harbour and Bikini Beach, the mountainside on the lower slopes of the

mountains overlooking False Bay, and the low-lying suburbs close to the main beach, making up the most recent expansion of the town. The older part of Gordon's Bay includes the South African Naval College, a junior officer training center adjacent to the old harbour and

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

marina. Above the harbour on the mountainside is an emblem of a giant anchor and the letters "GB" assembled from painted stones which stands for vosjan, the name of the earlier training base, SATS ''General Botha'', which was also the original name of the naval station in the town. The

Steenbras Dam The Steenbras Dam ("STEE-un bruss"), now referred to as Steenbras Lower Dam, is a gravity concrete arch type dam located in the Hottentots-Holland mountains, above Gordons Bay, near Cape Town in South Africa. It is one of the six large dams that ...

, one of

's supplies of drinking water, is located behind the mountain above the town. Gordon's Bay has a blue flag beach, Bikini Beach, to the south of the harbour, which is generally popular, particularly with students from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

and

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

. The beach is funded by the

to properly maintain facilities that include public showers, changing rooms, bathrooms and a grassy promenade. The beach is considered safe and is regularly patrolled by a seasonal security guard.

Coat of arms

Gordon's Bay was a municipality from 1961 to 1996. The town council assumed a coat of arms, designed by Schalk Pienaar, in July 1962,Western Cape Archives : Gordon's Bay Municipal Minutes (25 July 1962). and registered it with the Cape Provincial Administration in November 1962Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 3161 (23 November 1962). and at the

Bureau of Heraldry Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organizations *Government agency *Public administration * News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location * Bureau (European Parliament), the administrat ...

in November 1988.http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za The arms were : ''Per chevron, the chief barry wavy Argent and Azure and the base Vert, in chief two anchors and in base a protea slipped and leaved, Or''. In layman's terms, the shield was divided in two by a chevron-shaped line, the upper half displaying two golden anchors on a background of silver and blue wavy stripes, and the lower half a golden protea flower on a green background. The crest was a yacht in full sail, and the motto ''Sol et salubritas''.

References

External links

Gordon's Bay Directory
{{Authority control Suburbs of Cape Town

Coat of arms

See also

References

External links