Stormsvlei is a town on the southern bank of the Riviersonderend, some 17 km south of Bonnievale and 50 km north of Bredasdorp. Of Afrikaans origin, the name means 'storm marsh'.[1]
Stormsvlei | |
|---|---|
 Stormsvlei Church | |
  Stormsvlei  Stormsvlei | |
| Coordinates: 34°04′59″S 20°05′49″E / 34.083°S 20.097°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Western Cape |
| District | Overberg |
| Municipality | Swellendam |
| Population | |
| • Total | 987 |
| Racial Makeup (2011) | |
| • Coloured | 64.7% |
| • White | 18.1% |
| • Black African | 16.8% |
| • Other | 0.4% |
| First Languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 85.7% |
| • Xhosa | 10.9% |
| • English | 2.5% |
| • Other | 0.8% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| PO box | 7252 |
As of 2011 the town's population was 987 people living in 282 households.[2]
History edit
By 1732, grazing rights were already granted here, but apparently they were not used. Fifty years later, in 1782, the farm known as Avontuur was awarded to Christiaan Andreas Storm and the town was named after him, hence the name 'Stormsvlei'.
In 1841 the farm came into the ownership of cousins Laurence and William Twentyman. They were good businessmen and developed here at the intersection of the route from the Cape to the eastern districts of the Cape Colony and of the route from the interior (via Kogmanskloof, Ashton and Bonnievale) to the sea at Agulhas a popular stopover.
In its prime, Stormsvlei had a hotel with a bar. There was a wagon maker and a blacksmith, stables, a mill and even a post office, a police station and a prison. Only the church still exists. The old mansion is now a guest house.
References edit
- ^ Raper, Peter E. (1987). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Internet Archive. p. 420. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^ Firth, Adrian (2011). "Small Area 0063". Retrieved 30 March 2024.
 | This Western Cape location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |