Hopefield is a settlement in

West Coast District Municipality The West Coast District Municipality is a district municipality located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its municipality code is DC1. Moorreesburg is the seat of the district. As of 2011 it had a total population of 391,766. Geograp ...

in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

on the R45 between Malmesbury and Vredenburg. The town is east of

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay ( af, Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local ...

and Langebaan, southeast of

Vredenburg Vredenburg is a town of the Cape West Coast in the Western Cape province of South Africa. "Vrede" is Afrikaans for peace. It is the transportation and commercial hub of the West Coast area and administrative centre of the Saldanha Bay Local Mun ...

and north of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

History

Hopefield is the oldest town on the Cape West Coast. The Dutch Reformed congregation (Zoute Rivier) was established in December 1851 after farmers donated money towards its construction and the town was founded in 1852 on the farm Langekuil. It became a municipality in 1914., and was named after two people who laid it out, Major William Hope, Auditor-General, and a Mr Field.

General

The

Air Force Base Langebaanweg AFB Langebaanweg Data current as of October 2006. is an airbase of the South African Air Force (SAAF). The base motto is ''Tenax Propisiti Vinco – Through Tenacity Comes Success''. Units hosted * Central Flying School SAAF - Pilot and Ins ...

, west of the town, as well as the West Coast Fossil park west from town, fall within town limits. Another important fossil locality, Elandsfontein, is found about southwest of Hopefield. In earlier years Hopefield was considered the capital of the West Coast, with banks, filling stations and multiple other shops and businesses. The only access to the towns of

Langebaan Langebaan is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa on the eastern shore of Langebaan Lagoon. Langebaan is situated 120 km north of Cape Town, just off the R27, about 28 km from Vredenburg and 20 km from Saldanha Bay. ...

and

Saldanha Saldanha may refer to: Places South Africa * Saldanha Bay, a bay in Western Cape * Saldanha, Western Cape, a town on the bay * Saldanha Bay Local Municipality, the unit of government that administers the Saldanha Bay region Other countries * Sal ...

was through Hopefield. With the re-routing of the R45 road away from the town, and the construction of the R27 (West Coast Road), the importance of the town gradually faded.

Schools

There are two schools in the town, Hopefield Primary, offering Grade 1-9, and Hopefield High, offering Grade R-12.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality Populated places established in 1844