Karoo Heartland Churches

Looking through everything I have that still needs to be posted I decided to take three Karoo churches and make up one Random... Karoo churches post.  Just about every small town in the Karoo Heartland of the Eastern Cape has a remarkable church of some sort.

 

Cradock must have one of the most memorable Karoo Heartland churches there are.  It stands at the top of Church Street and is known as the ``Mother" Church.  The church was completed in 1868 on the same site as the first Dutch Reformed church in the town.  This church community was also the first in Cradock and was established in 1824, 10 years after the town received it's name.  The design of the church was based on the ``St Martins-in-the-Fields" church in Trafalgar Square in London. and the great South African statesman and first President, Paul Kruger, was christened here in 1826.  During the Anglo-Boer War, the roof of the church was used as a look-out post by the British soldiers who occupied the town.

On the other end of the spectrum you will also find churches that is a lot less imposing yet still has historical value to the area its located in.  In the village if Middleton you will find a Methodist church that is probably smaller than most houses.  The church was built in 1903 and only has 5 rows of seats.  It has services in it every Sunday for the residents of the village which is run by the Noupoort Christian Care Centre who owns the village and uses it as part of their rehabilitation process for drug and alcohol addicts.

 

A little further to the north west is the village of Nieu-Bethesda.  Built in 1905, the Dutch Reformed Church is the grandest edifice in the village, with its long gothic spire reaching to the sky.  A decline in the town resulted in a dwindling of the numbers of the congregation and the church has not had a permanent minister since 1961 with the Sunday service being performed by a minister from Graaff-Reinet.  There is some fine wooden carvings on the old church pews and the original chandeliers are quite unique. 

The Great Fish River

The Great Fish River is one of the great rivers of the Eastern Cape. It originates east of the town of Graaff-Reinet and, 644 kilometers later, flows into the Indian Ocean about 30km east of Port Alfred. Even though the river originates in the arid Karoo, it generally runs all year around. It is possible to use water from the Orange River (diverted through the Orange / Fish River Pipeline) to keep up the flow during dry periods. At the river mouth the river is tidal for a distance of approximately 20 km.

The Great Fish River is called "Great" to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River. The bridge in the first picture is just behind the Karoo town of Middleton where both these pictures were taken. In the first picture the river is quiet and seemingly slow moving, but the second pic was taken barely 100 meters down stream.

Church gate

Looking in the gate at the old church in Middleton. I didn't want to post this pic along with the original post as I thought it could stand nicely on its own.

Middleton Church

On our recent visit to Somerset East we stopped at Middleton between Port Elizabeth and Cradock. While the Damselfly and Rugrats were browsing through the farm stall, I had a closer look of the historic Methodist church that stands at the entrance to the village. The guy working in the shop asked me if I would like to see the inside of the church and unlocked it for me.

The church, built in 1903, is what you would call quaint. It only has 5 rows of seats and has services in it every Sunday for the residents of the village. The services are run by the Noupoort Christian Care Centre who owns the village and uses it as part of their rehabilitation process for drug and alcohol addicts.

The church has two stunning stained glass windows in the front which the guy was quite proud of as he asked me a couple of times if I got a picture of them.

Middleton

Barrelling along the N10 between Port Elizabeth and Cradock, most people don't even notice the little historic one horse Karoo town of Middleton. Situated about 20 km before reaching Cookhouse, Middleton is a charming little village steeped in history dating back to 1879. The village is situated next to the Great Fish River and includes the Middleton Manor hotel, a restaurant, pub, general dealer, bottle store, post office and camping site.

What makes the village unique is that its privately owned. It was bought by the Noupoort Christian Care Centre (NCCC) some years ago. NCCC is a drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation centre. They place those who have rehabilitated and those still rehabilitating in Middleton as part of their second fase of rehabilitation. The residents are entrusted with everything from finances, to purchasing, stock taking, cashing up and the general running of the projects available. This trust given to those rehabilitating builds self confidence, self esteem and a sense of achievement which is paramount in completing recovery.

From the road passing motorists can't see much of the village other than the bright pink farm stall and the historic little Methodist church, which I will post about tomorrow. So if you do slow down on your way to the coast, do pull over and go have a look at this extraordinary little village.