Somerset West Somerset-Wes | |
|---|---|
 .jpg)    From top: Aerial view of Somerset West withHelderberg Mountain; left:Vergelegen Estate; during the winter; Left: The OldLourens River Bridge is a provincial heritage site; Right: Erinvale Estate. | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Motto: Prorsum Sursum (Latin: Straight Up) | |
  Somerset West  Somerset West  Somerset West | |
| Coordinates:34°05′S18°51′E / 34.083°S 18.850°E /-34.083; 18.850 | |
| Country |  South Africa |
| Province |  Western Cape |
| Municipality | City of Cape Town |
| Established | 1822 |
| Government | |
| • Councillors | Gregory Peck (DA) (Ward 15); Norman McFarlane (DA) (Ward 84) |
| Area | |
• Total | 61.37 km2 (23.70 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 55,166 |
| • Density | 898.9/km2 (2,328/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 13.0% |
| • Coloured | 24.5% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.9% |
| • White | 60.1% |
| • Other | 1.6% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 52.3% |
| • English | 37.5% |
| • Xhosa | 4.8% |
| • Other | 5.3% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 7130 |
| PO box | 7129 |
| Area code | +27 (0)21 |
Somerset West (Afrikaans:Somerset-Wes) is a town in theWestern Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in theCity of Cape Townmetropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called Helderberg Basin).[2]The vehicle registration code for Somerset West isCFM and the post code is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes.
A cattle post was established here[clarification needed] by Dutch soldiers in 1672.
A town developed around the Lourens River (originally "Tweederivier", which means "Second River"; "Eersterivier", meaning "First River" passes throughStellenbosch, some 16 km (9.9 mi) to the north) and the farm ofVergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th-century farmhouse built in the historicCape Dutch style byWillem Adriaan van der Stel, governor of the Cape and son ofSimon van der Stel, who gave his name to the nearby town ofStellenbosch. 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 companyAnglo American, who have restored the farmhouse to its original magnificence and continue to produce some of South Africa's best wines there.[citation needed] The farm is open to tourists.
Somerset West was founded in 1822 on part of the historic farm, Vergelegen.[3] The town was named Somerset after a British governor of theCape Colony during the 1800s,Lord Charles Somerset, with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it fromSomerset East, another South African town in the Eastern Cape. In the 1830s,Sir Lowry's Pass, named after later governorSir Lowry Cole, was constructed to link the town with outposts further east over theHottentots-Holland mountains.
In the 1960s, theAECI factory between Somerset West andStrand was the second largest dynamite factory in the world.[citation needed]
Somerset West is located on theN2 about 45 kilometres (30 mi) east ofCape Town and 20 kilometres (10 mi) kilometres south ofStellenbosch. The town bordersStrand andGordon's Bay and is overlooked by theHelderberg Mountain (meaning "clear mountain"), a part of theHottentots-Holland range of mountains. The Hottentots-Holland mountains surround Somerset West in an amphitheatre shape.
Somerset West includes more than 65 suburbs covering a large area of 61.37 square kilometres within its administrative boundaries, extending from the satellite areas ofFirgrove to the west andSir Lowry's Pass Village to the east. It includes the following suburbs:[4]
Owing to its regional status and central location, Somerset West has become the major retail hub for theHelderberg, Stellenbosch and theOverberg regions.Somerset Mall, situated alongside the N2 freeway serves as the largest shopping centre in the Helderberg region. A number of other local retail shopping centres can be found in the town's suburban areas such as Helderberg Mall, Somerset Value Centre, The Sanctuary, Waterstone Village Shopping Centre, Vergelegen Plein and Sitari Village Mall.[5][6][7][8][9]
Somerset West offers several tourist attractions due to its position on the Hottentots-Holland mountains and between theCape Winelands and the nearby beaches ofStrand andGordon's Bay.
Somerset West forms part of the Helderberg Wine Region which is a wine-producing sub-region of the greaterStellenbosch Wine Region. Helderberg includes wine estates such as include 96 Winery, Alto, Audacia, Annandale, Cavalli, Ernie Els, Grangehurst, Guardian Peak, Haskell, Hidden Valley, Idiom, Ken Forrester, Klein Welmoed, Le Riche, Longridge, Lourensford, Lyngrove, Miravel, Morgenster, Peter Falke, Post House, Somerbosch, Uva Mira, Vergelegen, Vergenoegd and Waterkloof.
The most popular and nearest wine estates amongst the many surrounding Somerset West are Vergelegen and Lourensford. TheVergelegen Wine Estate lies on the border of Somerset West, spanning into the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. The buildings on the estate constitute fine examples ofCape Dutch architecture.
TheLourensford Wine Estate which neighbours the Vergelegen Wine Estate features the Lourensford Market[10] and a Sports car museum known as MOTOR Studio.[citation needed]
Every December, the town has a 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.
TheHelderberg Nature Reserve,[11] a 363 hectare natural wildlife preserve opened in 1964, contains a wide variety of smaller fauna (small antelope, tortoises and other reptiles) and indigenous flora such asProtea andfynbos.
In recent years[when?] many guest houses and B&Bs have opened up in Somerset West, since it is conveniently located forCape Town (45 kilometres (28 mi) away on theN2 motorway), the beaches at theStrand andGordon's Bay, and the Western Cape's numerous wine farms.
In recent years, there has been a population boom in Somerset West with various secure or gated estates such as Sitari Country Estate, Croydon Vineyard and Olive Estates and Kelderhof Country Village being built on previously undeveloped land west of the town, gradually closing the little break isolating Somerset West from the rest of the metropolitan area. Paardevlei, south of the town, is an emergingmixed-use development comprising gated residential complexes and the Busamed Paardevlei Private Hospital.[12][13][14][15]
The town has a range of primary and secondary educational facilities.
Primary schools
High schools
Higher Education
Somerset West lies on the Strand Line (a branch line of theNorthern Line), connecting its two railway stations: Somerset West and Van der Stel. The Strand service operated byMetrorail runs westwards to Cape Town (viaKuilsrivier andBellville) and eastwards toStrand.
TheN2 is the main route through Somerset West connectingCape Town withGrabouw andGeorge. The N2W (in the direction of Cape Town) from the R102 on the outskirts of the town runs as a dual-carriage freeway while the N2E (in the direction of George) runs as an at-grade road. Running north-west toKuilsrivier, theR102 (Old Main Road) is an older section of the N2 and the old main road between Cape Town and Somerset West. TheR44 (Broadway Boulevard) connects toStellenbosch in the north andKleinmond in the south-east (viaStrand andGordon's Bay).
The town is also intersected by fourmetropolitan routes connecting it to surrounding suburbs such as theM9 (Main Road; Sir Lowry's Pass Village Road) connecting toMacassar in the west andSir Lowry's Pass Village in the east, theM149 (Victoria Street) connecting to Strand, theM153 (Main Road) connecting to Strand and theM156 (Irene Avenue; Steynsrust Road) connecting toFirgrove.
Municipality (1) — Somerset West was a municipality in its own right from 1904 to 1996. The council approved its first coat of arms on 23 April 1935.[16]
Municipality (2) — In 1953, the council approved a new design, byIvan Mitford-Barberton andH. Ellis Tomlinson. This was in response to a Cape Provincial Administration circular calling on municipalities to have their arms checked and, if necessary, re-designed to make them heraldically correct. The arms were granted by theCollege of Arms on 25 November 1953. They were registered at theBureau of Heraldry in June 1994.[17]
The arms were:Azure, a portcullis chained Or; on a chief of the last a setting sun Gules (i.e. a blue shield displaying a red setting sun on a golden stripe across the top, and a golden portcullis with chains below it). The crest was a golden demi-lion holding a vine, issuing from a red mural crown charged with three golden rings. The motto wasProrsum sursum. The design is canting: the portcullis comes from the Somerset family arms, and the setting sun denotes the west.
._Somerset_West._Office_Block._Baker_and_Masey_1899.jpg)
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