Rawsonville is a small wine growing and farming community in the

Breede River Valley Breede River Valley is a region of Western Cape Province, South Africa known for being the largest fruit and wine producing valley in the Western Cape, as well as South Africa's leading race-horse breeding area. It is part of the Boland borderin ...

of the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The town forms part of the Breede Valley Local Municipality, and is located in a scenic portion of the valley on the eastern flanks of the Du Toitskloof Mountains. The town is part of the Breedekloof Wine Route and hosts the annual Breedekloof extreme sports festival. The economy remains heavily reliant on serving the agricultural community, however tourism in the form of weekend retreats are becoming more important to the town's income. Rawsonville is to the east of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and to the west of the large town of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

Early history

Old Goudini Farms

Slanghoek, Klipdrift, Groot Vlakte, Groot Eiland, Gevonden, Goudyn, Boontjiesrivier, Dasbosch Rivier, Pokkekraal and Aan-de-Smalblaar were some of the original farms occupied by European settlers since 1709.

Town

By the 1850s the necessity for the formation of a hamlet had become clear; the ward was cut off from Worcester during the rainy season when the

Breede River The Breede River (), also known as Breë River, is a river in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Travelling inland north from the city of Cape Town, the river runs in a west to east direction. The surrounding western mountains formed th ...

burst it banks regularly. The farm Aan-de-Smalblaar was transported to Johannes Petrus (Jan) Jordaan on 23 July 1858. Jan Jordaan divided a portion of the farm into 57 residential plots and these were sold at a public

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

on 11 June 1859. The town was named for Sir Rawson William Rawson, the Cape Colonial Secretary. Since the modern day, there is a rural suburban areas called De Nova and "Nuwe huisies"(New Houses) with the squatter camps called Spookytown, Geelkampies, Ocean view, Riverside and Bos nakata.

School

45 ''Deelhebbers'' (participants) decided to form De Goudini School in 1858 and they were represented by seven school directors. Rawsonville also consist of schools called Rawsonville Primary, Weltevrede Primary and Hoërskool Goudini and Slanghoek Primary School

Church

On 16 June 1878 a public meeting was held to ascertain if a Dutch Reformed Church Congregation should be established at Rawsonville and on 14 October 1879 the Worcester Ring Commission granted permission for the formation of the Goudini Dutch Reformed Congregation.

Town Management

Under the Village Management Act Rawsonville was granted Town Management in 1883. During the 1800s, if a doctor was needed someone had to travel to Worcester on horseback or on foot and if it rained continuously for six hours, the Smalblaar River burst its banks and the water ran through town. Under these circumstances no school was attended.

Climate

The climate is hinterland (further from oceanic influences)

mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, with cool, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. Due to its more inland location, winters can sometimes get frosty, with heavy snowfalls sometimes falling on the surrounding high ground. Summers are generally mild, although some February and March days can reach or higher.

Vineyards

Located within the wine district of

Breedekloof The Breedekloof wine district is one of three districts in the Breede River Valley wine region. It boasts a total of 28 wine cellars (11 producer cellars and 17 private cellars). The Breedekloof represents 14.24% (13 029 hectares) of wine grape vi ...

, Rawsonville is part of the Breedekloof

wine route The wine route within wine-producing regions, are marked and advertised roads with special signs, along which insist natural, cultural and environmental values, vineyards and cellars of individual or associated farms open to the public. They const ...

, a

scenic byway A scenic route, tourist road, tourist drive, scenic byway, or holiday road is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by Scenic viewpoint, scenic viewpoints. The designat ...

that passes 22

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

of differing sizes. A new community centre with facilities including a meeting hall and classrooms was opened in the town in 2018 for the Merwida wine estate. It is used by over 450 people, most of whom are

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

workers.

Gallery

Rawsonville.jpg, Vineyards and the Slanghoek Mountains outside Rawsonville RawsonvilleWC.jpg, Rawsonville beneath Du Toitskloof Mountains Rawsonville-Sneeukop.JPG, View of Rawsonville village, with Goudini Sneeukop mountain (nicknamed 'Sneeukoppie') beyond

References

*Eeublad; WR Laubscher; Hoërskool Goudini 1958 *Genade genoeg vir Goudini; AP Smit; Kerkraad 1979 {{Cape Winelands District Municipality Populated places in the Breede Valley Local Municipality Hot springs of South Africa