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Heritage Trail:
Powder Magazine 1890
At this stage the weapons and ammunition were kept in the powder magazine near the Landrost (Magistrate) building. However, the building was unsafe and damp and thus unsuitable for this purpose. In 1889, a contract was concluded to build a new powder magazine. For this purpose some of the stones from Fort Mary were used. The names engraved by some of the British soldiers can still be seen. The builder was a certain Rink. The building was completed in 1890, declared a national monument in 1962 and restored in 1982. Old Municipal Office 1918 The building was completed in 1918 and originally had a red brick finish, which was altered to the white plastered appearance. It was used up to 1971 by the Municipality. Old Magistrate's Building 1899 The building was erected before 1899, when the ZAR governed the Transvaal. It was used up to 1986, when the new magistrate's building was built on the corner of Voortrekker and De Clercq street. The scales used for weighing gold during
the gold rush days are located inside Standard bank Ox Wagon Trek Monument 1938 This monument was erected in 1938 with the assistance of the Cultural Historical Society in conjunction with the Town Council. The symbolic ox-wagon trek through the Republic to Pretoria was intended to commemorate the Great Trek, which had taken place a century earlier from the Cape Colony to the north. The wagon tracks evident in the cement in front of the Voortrekker School mark the trek of Charl Cilliers. Eastern Redfooted Kestrels From November - April each year, thousands of Eastern Redfooted Kestrels (Falco amurensis) use the Monkey Puzzle trees (Auracaria bidwillii) as a roosting site. These migratory raptors fly nearly 12,000 km from their breeding grounds in eastern Russia and northern China to spend the northern hemisphere winter in the warmer regions of eastern and southern Africa. The site marked on the map is an alternative one to the site in the Wenakker grounds. St. John's Anglican Church, 1872 Regular services started on Sunday 30th August 1874. The bell for the Church was made in England in 1884 and transported from Durban to Lydenburg by ox-wagon. Inscribed on the bell are the words "When I do call come serve God All" and it is still in use today to call worshippers to Sunday services. In July 1886 the Rev. Alfred Roberts became the curate of St. John's. He was the father of Austin Roberts of "Birds of S.A." fame.
Inside the Church is a tablet to commemorate men of the Manchester Regiment who fell during the 2nd Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 and one to honour the Lydenburg Volunteer who died during the Sekhukhune Wars 1876. 41 Kerk street 1890 The house was built in ca. 1890 and was occupied by the beloved teacher, Sybrand Hiemstra from 1907. Hiemstra had started a State school in Lydenburg some years before the start of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902. He married his teaching assistant, Johanna Opperman in 1896. After the war (1899-1902), Hiemstra was asked by Afrikaans speaking parents to start a C.N.O (Christelike Nasionale Onderwys) school in Lydenburg. The school was funded from the Netherlands. The Government later took control of the C.N.O. schools and Hiemstra left Lydenburg to go farming.
The building of the school was started soon after the founding of the town Lydenburg. The walls are built of raw clay bricks, and clay was also used to plaster and cement the walls. The roof is grass but a fire proof attic was built and used for storage. The little green door at the back of the school leads to the attic. The floor is the customary dung floor. The first teacher was Meester Willem Poen who arrived from the Netherlands. His two assistants were Mr. J.W. Spruyt and H. van der Linde. Poen's serious and religious personality was very much liked by the inhabitants of Lydenburg. The school was used until the 2nd Anglo-Boer war broke out in 1899. It was declared a National Monument in 1974. The Old Parsonage 1893 It was completed in 1857/58 and occupied by Rev. J.H. Neethling. In 1893 it was converted to a double-storey as it was expected of the parson's wife to accommodate catechumen who stayed far in the district. The church sold the parsonage in 1961. Voortrekker Church 1852 Shortly after the founding of Lydenburg a start was made with the building of a church with A. Livingston as the building contractor. In March 1852 at the time of a visit by Rev. A. Murray and J.H. Neethling, the building already stood roof high. The roof was temporarily covered with thatch for the occasion. The original gables were removed in 1879, the windows were altered to Gothic windows and the thatched roof was replaced with corrugated iron. On 13 April 1973 the church was declared a national monument and is presently the oldest existing Dutch Reformed Church building in Mpumalanga. It was restored to its original style with the aid of a pen sketch done by Richter in 1867 and another illustration published in the Graphic of 1876. In 1894 this church was replaced by the nearby Dutch Reformed Church to which services were transferred.
The first postal service by way of coach between Lydenburg and Potchefstroom was already in use in 1850 and was maintained by voluntary financial contribution. This pillar box was manufactured in 1893 at 'Pletterij den Haag' in the Netherlands and erected in Lydenburg around 1895. The post box previously stood near the Burgher Monument and was moved to its present position in 1975. In 1979 it was declared a national monument.
Dutch Reformed Church 1890 The foundation stone was laid on 12 April 1890 by the Rev. H.J. Neethling and on 14 April 1894 the church came into use. The building cost a total of £12,119-3s-3d. The pulpit, a replica of that in the Mother Church in Stellenbosch, was constructed by Palframan and De Roo from ordinary kiaat donated by Abel Erasmus. In 1926 he descendants of the Voortrekker G.C. Schoeman donated a unique organ to the congregation.
Burgher Monument On 20 July 1914 the Church Council of the Dutch Reformed Church decided to donate a piece of land for the erection of a monument in remembrance of the Lydenburg burghers (Dutch name for civilians), who died in action during the Second War of Independence (Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902). This monument, with the names of 33 burghers engraved on it, was unveiled in about 1918 by Gen. S.W. Burger. Loreto Convent The Right Reverend Charles Monginoux asked the Loreto Nuns of Pretoria to establish a convent school at Lydenburg. The first five Nuns, escorted by three Oblate Fathers left Pretoria by oxwagon on February 11th 1893 for Lydenburg. After a strenuous journey of crossing rough country (some parts on foot), and several rivers in flood, the weary Nuns reached Lydenburg early in March. They received a hearty welcome from the Catholics of the town. The McGees, the Donovans and the Quinlans were amongst the families who rejoiced in the prospect of being able to practise their religion fully and give their children the blessing of a Catholic education.
At first a small thatched building was used as convent and school. The beautiful Loreto Convent was completed in 1899 and the nuns and school children moved in the same year. In 1918 the church was built. The Convent was officially closed in 1969 and the building bought by the Vroue Federasie and is currently used as a training centre for the mentally handicapped and is known as Wenakker.
Fort Mary Monument The Fort was named after Lt. Long's wife, Mary, a woman who showed great strength and courage during the 84 day siege of the few remaining British troops in Lydenburg during the first Anglo-Boer war 1880-1881. The monument was erected where it was thought Fort Mary was positioned.
Lydenburg Water Focus Centre & Aquarium
Open 7 days a week from 08h00 to 16h00.
Old cemetery One needs to walk to the end of the cemetery to locate the graves of the British soldiers who died during the Anglo-Boer war 1899-1902; the memorial to the Burghers who died in the same war; and to locate the graves of some of the early settlers in Lydenburg.
Mashishing
Mission Church 1965
Stones houses 1930-40 |
After the conclusion of the Sekhukhune War
in 1879, a division of soldiers, attached to the 94th Regiment, were
stationed at Lydenburg. At the commencement of the first Anglo-Boer War
(1880-1881) Lt. Col. Anstruther, with the larger part of the garrison,
departed for Pretoria. The remaining soldiers under the command of second
Lt. Walter Long transformed a number of huts into a fort which was named
after Long's wife, Mary. Fort Mary was successfully defended for 84 days by
a few British soldiers and was evacuated after March 1881.
Voortrekker School - 1851
ZAR Post Box - erected 1895