Middelburg, Eastern Cape

Afrikaans name: Middelburg

Middelburg street

Photo © Johan van Zyl

Eastern Cape

See also Middelburg in Mpumalanga province

The Eastern Cape town of Middelsburg takes its name from the fact that it is midway between Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. It has a population of around 20,000 inhabitants and was established in 1852.

Middelburg owes its existence to sheep farming and the production of merino wool in particular. The Grootfontein Agricultural College, which was originally a British military camp, specialises in research and the training of people in the wool industry.

There are a number of old buildings that are of interest including those at the Grootfontein Agricultural College. The town has a museum that is in a building which once served as a school for the underpriveleged by the Dutch Reformed church.

Above - Reformed Church (1862) - The oldest Reformed Church in South Africa

Photo © Johan van Zyl

Above - The house where the warden of the first prison stayed

Photo © Johan van Zyl

Above - Beautiful scenery near Middelburg in the Eastern Cape

Photo © Johan van Zyl

Above - Roadside shop near Middelburg

Photo © Johan van Zyl

References and further reading

Things ewe never knewe about South African place names - Author: Ann Gadd - Published: 2015 - Page: 140

The Pictorial Motoring Atlas of South Africa - Author: Maxwell Leigh - Published: 1987 - Page: 60

Southern Africa from the Highway - Author: AA RSA - Published: 1991 - Page: 287

On Route - A region by region guide to South Africa - Author: B.P.J. Erasmus - Published: 1995 - Page: 310

Readers Digest Illustrated Guide to Southern Africa - 4th edition - Author: - Published: 1986 - Page: 148

Country Life - Issue 244 - Author: - Published: 2016 - Page: 24

Book of the Road - 4th edition - Author: MapStudio - Published: 2019 - Page: 131

Conollys Guide to Southern Africa - 2nd edition - Author: Denis Conolly - Published: 1982 - Page: 129

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