Windsorton is an agricultural town situated in the
Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme on the banks of the
Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...
in the
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
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 village is located on the
Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...
, 55 km north of Kimberley, 35 km northeast of
Barkly West
Barkly West is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, situated on the north bank of the Vaal River west of Kimberley.
Establishment and naming
Barkly West was initially known as ''Klip Drift'' (sometimes written as Klipdrift). This ...
and 40 km south-west of
Warrenton. It was founded in 1869 as a diamond-diggers’ camp and was administered by a village management board. The town started as Hebron, a mission station, but when
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
s were discovered, the area was flooded with prospectors and the town became a diggers' camp. The town was renamed after P F (Peter Ford) Windsor, the original owner of the land, who was instrumental in its development.
The Khoekhoen name is Chaib, ‘place of the kudu’.
References
{{Frances Baard District Municipality
Populated places in the Dikgatlong Local Municipality