Somerset West

Somerset West Somerset-Wes
—  Town  —
Somerset West
Somerset West
Coordinates: 34°05′S 18°51′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Municipality	City of Cape Town
Founded	1672
Government
• Type	Region of the City of Cape Town
• Mayor	Dan Plato (DA)
• Council	Cape Town City Council
• City manager	Achmat Ebrahim
Area
• Total	88.57 km2 (34.20 sq mi)
Population (2001)
• Total	60,606
• Density	684/km2 (1,770/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2001)
• Black African	3.1%
• Coloured	55.4%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	41.2%
First languages (2001)
• Afrikaans	69.3%
• English	27.0%
• Xhosa	2.0%
• Other	1.7%
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)
Area code(s)	+27 (0)21

Somerset West from Sir Lowry's Pass. The mountain in the picture is Helderberg

Aerial of Somerset West with Hottentots-Holland Mountains in the background

Somerset West (Afrikaans: Somerset-Wes; is politically part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. In the Western Cape, South Africa It is situated in the Helderberg area (formerly called Hottentots Holland), about 50 kilometres (30 mi) east of Cape Town and 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Strand. The town is overlooked by the imposing Helderberg (meaning "clear mountain"), a part of the Hottentots-Holland range of mountains. 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

The land was initially bought from local people and 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, some 16 km 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, who gave his name to the nearby town of Stellenbosch. 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.

The town was named Somerset after an English governor of the Cape Colony during the 1800s, Lord Charles Henry 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, named after later governor Sir Lowry Cole, was constructed to link the town with outposts further east over the Hottentots-Holland mountains.

In the 1960s, the AECI factory between Somerset West and Strand was the second largest dynamite factory in the world.

Local attractions

Somerset West has a fairly decorative 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.

The area also has its own community radio station, Radio Helderberg, broadcasting community notices and playing adult orientated pop music.

The Helderberg Nature Reserve, a 363 hectare natural wildlife preserve opened in 1964, contains a wide variety of smaller fauna (buck, tortoises and other reptiles) and outstanding specimens of indigenous flora such as protea and fynbos.

The Vergelegen Wine Estate lies just outside the town itself. The buildings on the estate constitute fine examples of Cape Dutch architecture.

Somerset West contains a number of sporting facilities including several golf courses.

The historic town of Stellenbosch is reachable via the R44 motorway (approx 18 km/11 mi away). The area between Somerset West and Stellenbosch also encompasses many vineyards and wineries (e.g. Rust-en-Vrede, Alto, J.P. Bredell) where visitors can sample and purchase wine. The oldest remaining vineyard in South Africa, Vergelegen, is situated on the outskirts of Somerset West.

In recent years many guest houses and B&Bs have opened up in Somerset West, since it is conveniently located for Cape Town (40 kilometres (25 mi) away on the N2 motorway), the beaches at the Strand and Gordon's Bay, as well as the Western Cape's numerous wine farms.

Education

The town has a range of primary and secondary educational facilities.

Primary schools

• Somerset West Primary School (Summies)
• Somerset House
• Somerset College
• Somerset West Private School (SWPS)
• Helderberg Primary School
• De Hoop Primary
• Beaumont Primary
• International School of Helderberg
• Danie Ackerman Primary School

High schools

• Hottentots-Holland
• Parel Vallei
• Somerset College
• Somerset Private
• Helderberg High School
• International School of Helderberg
• Gordeon High School

List of suburbs

• Boskloof Eco Estate
• Bridgewater
• Briza
• Dennegeur
• Die Wingerd
• Erinvale
• Fernwood
• Garden Village
• Golden Acre
• Golden Hill
• Helderrand
• Heldervue
• Helderzicht
• Helena Heights
• Jacques Hill
• La Concorde
• La Sandra
• Land en Zeezicht
• Montclair
• Monte Sereno
• Morningside
• Parel Vallei
• Rome Glen
• Roundhay
• Somerset Ridge
• Spanish Farm
• Steynsrust
• The Links
• World's View

Famous persons

• Henry Vollam Morton - journalist and travel writer
• Selborne Boome - Rugby union player
• Ramsay Carelse - High jumper
• Chris McGregor - Jazz pianist, bandleader and composer
• Ernest "Eddie" Peirce - Boxer.
• Trevor Immelman - is a professional golfer and winner of the 2008 Masters Tournament.