Somerset West
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Somerset West () is a town in 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 ...
, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the
City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town (; ) is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the metropolitan municipality (South Africa), local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of ...
metropolitan municipality A metropolitan municipality is a municipality established to serve a metropolitan area. Canada In generic terms and in practical application within Canada, a metropolitan municipality is an urban local government with partial or complete consol ...
Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called Helderberg Basin). The vehicle registration code for Somerset West is ''CFM'' and the post code is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes.


History

A cattle post was established here by Dutch soldiers in 1672. A town developed around the Lourens River (originally "Tweederivier", which means "Second River"; "Eersterivier", meaning "First River" passes through
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...
, some to the north) and the farm of Vergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th-century farmhouse built in the historic Cape Dutch style by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, governor of the Cape and son of
Simon van der Stel Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (1691), the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. He was interested in botany, establishing vineyards Groot Constantia, Groot and Klein C ...
, who gave his name to the nearby town of
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...
. Willem Adriaan was later sent back to Holland after being charged with corruption and cruelty towards local Dutch farmers. The farm is now owned by a subsidiary of the large mining company Anglo American, who have restored the farmhouse to its original magnificence and continue to produce some of South Africa's best wines there. The farm is open to tourists. Somerset West was founded in 1822 on part of the historic farm, Vergelegen. The town was named Somerset after a British governor of the
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
during the 1800s, Lord Charles Somerset, with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it from Somerset East, another South African town in the Eastern Cape. In the 1830s,
Sir Lowry's Pass Sir Lowry's Pass is a mountain pass on the N2 national road in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It crosses the Hottentots Holland Mountains between Somerset West and the Elgin valley, on the main route between Cape Town and the G ...
, named after later governor Sir Lowry Cole, was constructed to link the town with outposts further east over 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 o ...
mountains. In the 1960s, the
AECI Aeci (or Aetius) (died 1010), Bishop of Barcelona from 995, was a warrior-prelate in the age of the Peace and Truce of God. Besides military endeavours, mainly ''reconquista'' (the re-conquest of Islamic territory), his episcopate was taken up wit ...
factory between Somerset West and
Strand Strand or The 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 * ...
was the second largest dynamite factory in the world.


Geography

Somerset West is located on the N2 about 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 kilometres south of
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...
. The town borders
Strand Strand or The 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 * ...
and Gordon's Bay and is overlooked by the Helderberg Mountain (meaning "clear mountain"), a 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 o ...
range of mountains. The Hottentots-Holland mountains surround Somerset West in an amphitheatre shape.


Suburbs

Somerset West includes more than 65 suburbs covering a large area of 61.37 square kilometres within its administrative boundaries, extending from the satellite areas of Firgrove to the west and Sir Lowry's Pass Village to the east. It includes the following suburbs: *Andas Estate *Bel' Aire *Bene *Bergaio *Boskloof Eco Estate *Braeview *Bridgebank *Bridgewater *Briza *Canwick *Carey Parks *Cherrywood Gardens *Chris Nissen Village *Croydon *Dennegeur *Die Wingerd *Dorhill *Erinvale Golf Estate *Fairview Heights * Firgrove (incl. Firgrove Rural) *Fraai Gelegen *Garden Village *Golden Acre *Golden Hill *Greenway Rise *Haumannshof *Helderberg *Helderberg Estate *Helderberg Rural *Helderberg Village *Helderrand *Heldervue *Helderzicht *Helena Heights *Heritage Mews *Heritage Park *Illaire *Jacques Hill *Jonkershoogte *Kalamunda *La Concorde *La Montagne *La Sandra * Land en Zeezicht *Lionviham *Longdown Estate *Lynn's View *Martinville *Montclair *Monte Sereno *Morningside *Natures Valley *Olive Grove *Paardevlei * Parel Vallei *Pearl Marina *Radloff Park *Rome Glen *Roundhay *Shady Glen * Sir Lowry's Pass Village *Somerset Ridge *Spanish Farm (incl. Spanish Farm Ext 1) *Steenbras View *Steyn's Nest *Stuart's Hill *The Vines *Victoria Park *Westridge *Zandberg


Retail

Owing to its regional status and central location, Somerset West has become the major retail hub for the Helderberg, Stellenbosch and the
Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the e ...
regions. Somerset Mall, situated alongside the N2 freeway serves as the largest shopping centre in the Helderberg region. A number of other local retail shopping centres can be found in the town's suburban areas such as Helderberg Mall, Somerset Value Centre, The Sanctuary, Waterstone Village Shopping Centre, Vergelegen Plein and Sitari Village Mall.


Tourism

Somerset West offers several tourist attractions due to its position on the Hottentots-Holland mountains and between the Cape Winelands and the nearby beaches of
Strand Strand or The 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 * ...
and Gordon's Bay.


Wine

Somerset West forms part of the Helderberg Wine Region which is a wine-producing sub-region of the greater Stellenbosch Wine Region. Helderberg includes wine estates such as include 96 Winery, Alto, Audacia, Annandale, Cavalli, Ernie Els, Grangehurst, Guardian Peak, Haskell, Hidden Valley, Idiom, Ken Forrester, Klein Welmoed, Le Riche, Longridge, Lourensford, Lyngrove, Miravel, Morgenster, Peter Falke, Post House, Somerbosch, Uva Mira, Vergelegen, Vergenoegd and Waterkloof. The most popular and nearest wine estates amongst the many surrounding Somerset West are Vergelegen and Lourensford. The Vergelegen Wine Estate lies on the border of Somerset West, spanning into the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. The buildings on the estate constitute fine examples of
Cape Dutch architecture Cape Dutch architecture is an architectural style primarily found in the Western Cape of South Africa, though modern adaptations have been constructed in regions such as Western Australia and New Zealand, typically on wine estates. The style e ...
. The Lourensford Wine Estate which neighbours the Vergelegen Wine Estate features the Lourensford Market and a Sports car museum known as MOTOR Studio.


Festivals

Every December, the town has a display of Christmas lights erected atop the street lights of the Main Road. The Helderberg Lights Festival (aka the Strawberry Festival), a flea market and parade, normally complements these lights.


Nature

The Helderberg Nature Reserve, a 363 hectare natural wildlife preserve opened in 1964, contains a wide variety of smaller fauna (small antelope, tortoises and other reptiles) and indigenous flora such as ''
Protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...
'' and
fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...
.


Guest Houses & B&Bs

In recent years many guest houses and B&Bs have opened up in Somerset West, since it is conveniently located for
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 ...
( away on the N2 motorway), the beaches at the
Strand Strand or The 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 * ...
and Gordon's Bay, and the Western Cape's numerous wine farms.


Growth

In recent years, there has been a population boom in Somerset West with various secure or gated estates such as Sitari Country Estate, Croydon Vineyard and Olive Estates and Kelderhof Country Village being built on previously undeveloped land west of the town, gradually closing the little break isolating Somerset West from the rest of the metropolitan area. Paardevlei, south of the town, is an emerging
mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
comprising gated residential complexes and the Busamed Paardevlei Private Hospital.


Education

The town has a range of primary and secondary educational facilities. Primary schools * Somerset West Primary School *
Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...
* Somerset College * Somerset West Private School * Helderberg Primary School * De Hoop Primary * Beaumont Primary * International School of Helderberg * Danie Ackerman Primary School * Reddam House Somerset * Newberry Montessori School * Curro Primary School High schools * Hottentots Holland High School * Parel Vallei High School *Somerset College * Somerset West Private School *Helderberg High School * International School of Helderberg *Gordon High School * Reddam House Somerset *The Mayor Matthews Institution for Excellence *Christian Kotzé Higher Education * Helderberg College of Higher Education


Transport


Rail

Somerset West lies on the Strand Line (a branch line of the
Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...
), connecting its two railway stations: Somerset West and Van der Stel. The Strand service operated by
Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the List ...
runs westwards to Cape Town (via
Kuilsrivier Kuils River (Afrikaans: Kuilsrivier) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, 25 km (15 miles) east of Cape Town and 20 km (12 miles) west of Stellenbosch at the gateway of the Cape Winelands. It is also the name of the main tributary of t ...
and Bellville) and eastwards to
Strand Strand or The 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 * ...
.


Roads

The N2 is the main route through Somerset West connecting
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 ...
with
Grabouw Grabouw ( , ) is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 (South Africa), N2 highway. The town is the commercia ...
and George. The N2 ''W'' (in the direction of Cape Town) from the R102 on the outskirts of the town runs as a dual-carriage freeway while the N2 ''E'' (in the direction of George) runs as an at-grade road. Running north-west to
Kuilsrivier Kuils River (Afrikaans: Kuilsrivier) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, 25 km (15 miles) east of Cape Town and 20 km (12 miles) west of Stellenbosch at the gateway of the Cape Winelands. It is also the name of the main tributary of t ...
, the R102 (Strand Road) is an older section of the N2 and the old main road between Cape Town and Somerset West. The R44 (Broadway Boulevard) connects to
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...
in the north and
Kleinmond Kleinmond is a small coastal town in the Overberg region of the Western Cape province, South Africa. It is situated inside a UNESCO-declared Man and the Biosphere Programme, biosphere about 90 km east of Cape Town between Betty's Bay and Herm ...
in the south-east (via
Strand Strand or The 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 * ...
and Gordon's Bay). The town is also intersected by four metropolitan routes connecting it to surrounding suburbs such as the M9 (Main Road; Sir Lowry's Pass Village Road) connecting to Macassar in the west and Sir Lowry's Pass Village in the east, the M149 (Victoria Street) connecting to Strand, the M153 (Main Road) connecting to Strand and the M156 (Irene Avenue; Steynsrust Road) connecting to Firgrove.


Notable people

* Steven Kitshoff — rugby union player * Selborne Boome — rugby union player * Ramsay Carelse — high jumper * Eddie Daniels — ex-political prisoner on Robben Island *
Justin Harding Justin Adam Harding (born 9 February 1986) is a South African professional golfer. Amateur career Harding attended Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and played college golf at Lamar University in Texas and represented his countr ...
— golfer * Trevor Immelman — professional golfer; winner of the 2008 Masters Tournament *
Chris McGregor Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990) was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa. Early influences McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Prov ...
— jazz pianist, bandleader and composer * H. V. Morton — journalist and travel writer * Ernest "Eddie" Peirce — boxer *
Handré Pollard Handré Pollard (born 11 March 1994) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team and in the United Rugby Championship. His regular playing pos ...
— rugby union player * Storm Roux — New Zealand international footballer * David Ribbans — rugby union player * Ben-Jason Dixon — rugby union player


Coats of arms

Municipality (1) — Somerset West was a municipality in its own right from 1904 to 1996. The council approved its first coat of arms on 23 April 1935.Western Cape Archives : Somerset West Municipal Minutes (23 April 1935). : Municipality (2) — In 1953, the council approved a new design, by Ivan Mitford-Barberton and H. Ellis Tomlinson. This was in response to a Cape Provincial Administration circular calling on municipalities to have their arms checked and, if necessary, re-designed to make them heraldically correct. The arms were granted by the
College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...
on 25 November 1953. They were registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1994.National Archives of South Africa : Data of the Bureau of Heraldry
/ref> The arms were: ''Azure, a portcullis chained Or; on a chief of the last a setting sun Gules'' (i.e. a blue shield displaying a red setting sun on a golden stripe across the top, and a golden portcullis with chains below it). The crest was a golden demi-lion holding a vine, issuing from a red mural crown charged with three golden rings. The motto was ''Prorsum sursum''. The design is canting: the portcullis comes from the Somerset family arms, and the setting sun denotes the west.


Gallery


References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Cape Town Populated places established in 1822 1822 establishments in the Cape Colony zh:開普敦