Sights | Somerset East

Sights in the area

Buffelshoek Pass, Pearston

The Buffelshoek Pass is situtated on the R337 between Pearston and Cradock.

Walter Battiss Art Museum

Renowned artist Walter Battiss was born in Somerset East, and lived in the building that now houses the museum as a child.

Cookhouse Station, Cookhouse

The Cookhouse railway station personifies the little village, part of the Blue Crane Route municipality.

Somerset East Museum

The Old Parsonage museum is one of the oldest buildings in Somerset East, and houses artifacts from families that lived in the house.

Slagtersnek Monument, Cookhouse

The Slagtersnek Monument remembers a significant piece of history linked to this district’s early years

Somerset East Dutch Reformed Church

Located on the main road, it is the fourth oldest congregation of the DRC in the Eastern Cape

The Somerset East War Memorial (also called the Delville Wood Memorial)

Delville Wood War Memorial

Somerset East's war memorial remembers the men from the town who died in the two world wars.

Glen Avon Mill

The history of Glen Avon is that of Robert Hart who was regarded as being the “Father of the 1820 Settlers”

Middleton All Saints Church

Middleton is located near Cookhouse and was first established in 1879 as a train station to act as a layover point between larger towns. The church built in 1903

Commandant Paul Erasmus Memorial

There's a monument on the Dutch Reformed Church grounds in memory of Commandant Paul Erasmus.

Commandant William Comley Memorial

The monument in memory of Commandant William Charles Comley stands on the grounds of the Apostolic Church

Bruintjieshoogte Pass

The Bruintjieshoogte Pass lies on the R63 road about halfway between Pearston and Somerset East.

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Glen Avon Waterfall

The Glen Avon Waterfall is said to have one of the highest drops of water on private land in South Africa

Roodewal historic site

Three heritage sites at very close to each other on the N10 at Roodewal near Cookhouse

Paulet House

Paulet House, home to the Jakes Gerwel Foundation, was built in 1825, the year Somerset East was established

Gill College

After his death in 1863, Dr William Gill, the District Surgeon of Somerset East, left £23 000 to be used to set up and run an institute of higher learning.

Anglican "All Saints" Church

The Anglican Church in Beaufort Street was consecrated in 1855.

Hope Church

A church for the Coloured Dutch-speaking Congregation was erected on Dorothy Evans' erf in 1844.

Pearston Dutch Reformed Church

The village of Pearston had its origins as a parish of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1858 a notice to establish the village was published in the Kerkbode, the official publication of the Dutch Reformed Church.