malmesbury

Malmesbury, the largest town in the Swartland is about 65km north of Cape Town, in the heart of the Swartland Wine Route.  Resting in a simply gorgeous setting surrounded by mountains, wheat fields, and in winter, yellow blazes of canola and indigenous wild flowers, the town is especially known for its grain and wine cultivation as well as sheep and poultry farming.

Since Malmesbury is only 40 minutes’ drive from Cape Town it makes getting away for a weekend including wine tasting and some superb hikes a simple matter.

Despite its rural setting, Malmesbury has a vibrant community that plays host to the annual Swartland Food and Wine Festival during winter. Wine tasting and great food are synonymous with this region where the cool sea breezes from the Atlantic Ocean, and the low-yielding bush vines do so well in the dryland vineyards surrounding Malmesbury.

Today there is a wonderful ‘historic walk about route’ through Malmesbury that takes in the local museum and includes the landmark Dutch Reformed Church - the fifth oldest congregation in the country.

Malmesbury is a mere 30 minutes from the coastal towns of the Cape west coast and an hour from Stellenbosch, Paarl and Wellington which - other than the attraction of the Mediterranean climate, the vineyards and the tranquillity of a rural setting so close to a major metropolis - make it an attractive proposition for any traveller.

Malmesbury is the headquarters of Bokomo, the oldest milling company in South Africa. A mill was built in 1919 to process the wheat produced in the Swartland area. The Cimalat cheese factory produces an excellent range of Italian cheeses which perfectly complement the wines produced in the area. The Suikerbekkie (‘sugar bird’) fruit processing plant produces and packs glazed fruit.

The Swartland Wine Route starts here on the outskirts of Malmesbury. Swartland Wine Cellars are well known for producing excellent Pinotage and Hanepoot wines.The town originally developed around a tepid sulphur spring renowned for its healing ability, and the first farms were allocated in 1703 in the area first known as "Het Zwartland" (Black Land) apparently because of the typical rhinoceros bush, which has a black appearance during a certain time of the year. The rich dark soil produces wonderful crops.

When the fifth Dutch Reformed parish and a school in the Cape were established here, it became known as Zwartlands-kerk but was renamed Malmesbury in 1829 by the Cape governor Sir Lowry Cole in honour of his father-in-law Sir James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury.

The town acquired municipal status in 1860. The second Dutch Reformed church was rebuilt in 1862 after the first building which was built in 1860 collapsed after heavy rains. This church has been proclaimed as a national monument. The Anglican St. Martin’s church completed in 1859 is now an Apostolic Faith Mission. The Jewish synagogue built in 1911 is now serving as a museum.