Tsala ea Becoana: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[File:Graaff-Reinet Reinet House back steps.JPG|thumb|Graaff-Reinet Reinet House back steps]] |
|||
== Reinet House == |
== Reinet House == |
||
Revision as of 12:53, 7 October 2017
Reinet House
Reinet house, located in Graaf-Reinet, Eastern Cape, was built by the Cape Government between 1805 and 1812 as Dutch Reformed Church Parsonage [1] The parsonage was built by slaves and members of the community the building materials.
The Rev Kicherer was the first incumbent to use the fine new parsonage. In 1822, Reverend Andrew Murray from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, became the resident minister. He was the successor of Reverend Abraham Faure and served until his death in 1866 [2]
Located on Murray Street, it is a six-gabled, h-shaped Cape Dutch Architecture built with locally sourced materials. It may have been designed by Louis M. Thibault who designed the Drostdy at Graaff-Reinet [3]
After Reverend Andrew Murrays death in 1866 the parsonage was occupied by his son Charles Murray. The shutters of his study window have remained closed since the day of his death as a mark of respect. Reverend Murray married Maria Steegmann, a girl of sixteen at the time and they had eleven children: John, Andrew, Maria, William, Charles, Jemima, Isabella, James, George, Helen and Eliza [4]
After Charles death in 1904, his sister Helen Murray and principal of the Midlands Seminary, used the building as a hostel used to train girls train as teachers from January 1906. In 1907, she named it Reinet House [5]. It was later used as a boys' hostel for the college until 1943. In 1944 the building became unoccupied, and started falling into despair. In 1947, it was bought by the Graaf Reinet Publicity Association and plans were put went underway to restore the building and turn the parsonage into a museum [5]
Architect Norman Eaton was hired to do the restoration work which started in 1952 and continued for four years. In 1956 the Governor General Jansen, officially opened the Graaff-Reinet Museum. [6]
On 1 May 1980, a fire destroyed the back portion of Reinet House but fortunately much of the contents were saved.
The Reinet House includes the Mill House, Wagon House & the famous Black Acorn grape vine. In 1870, Reverend Charles Murray planted a vine and it still bears fruit today. It is said to be one of the largest vines in the world. [7]
Attractions
- History of The Murray Family, occupants of the house for more than 80 years
- The Laubscher doll collection: Anna Laubscher began making dolls in 1915 when there were none to be found in Graaff-Reinet over Christmas.
- A Mill house with water wheel
- Grape vine planted in 1870
- Withond distillery: This distillery of this local brandy began in 1929 during the depression. It is still made at Reinet House for tourism purposes
- Rykie Pretorius Clothing Collection
References
- ^ R. Heyns, M. Boekstein, J. Spencer “Introduction to Travel and Tourism”. Cape Town: Juta & Co. 2000. Online. Accessed 6 October.
- ^ MacKenzie, J. and Dalsiel, N. “The Scots in South Africa: Ethnicity, Identity, Gender, Race1772-1914”. Great Britian: Manchester University Press. 2007. Online. Accessed 6 October.
- ^ Olivier, W and Olivier, S. “Touring in South Africa”. London: Struik Publishers. 2001. Online. Accessed 6 October.
- ^ “The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa: Chapter I. Ancestry, Parentage and Birth”. Accessed 7 October.
- ^ a b De V. Minnaar, A. “Graaf-Reinet”. 1987. Online. Accessed 6 October
- ^ “The Reinet House”. Accessed 7 October.
- ^ Small, E. “Top 100 Food Plants: The Worlds Most Important Food Crops”. Canada: National Research Council of Canada. 2009. Online. Accessed 6 October.