Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town 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 ...

, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The remo ...

metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the

Helderberg Helderberg refers to a planning district of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the mountain after which it is named, a wine-producing area in the Western Cape province of South Africa, or a small census area in Somerset West. Or ...

region (formerly called Hottentots Holland). The vehicle registration code for Somerset West is ''CFM'' and the post code is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes.

History

A cattle post was established here by Dutch soldiers in 1672. A town developed around the Lourens River (originally "Tweederivier", which means "Second River"; "Eersterivier", meaning "First River" passes through Stellenbosch, some to the north) and the farm of Vergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th-century farmhouse built in the historic

Cape Dutch style Cape Dutch architecture is an architectural style found mostly in the Western Cape of South Africa, but modern examples of the style have also been exported as far afield as Western Australia and New Zealand, typically on wine estates. The sty ...

by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, governor of the Cape and son of

Simon van der Stel Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the last commander and first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony, the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Background Simon was the son of Adriaan van der Steland Maria Lievens ...

, who gave his name to the nearby town of Stellenbosch. Willem Adriaan was later sent back to Holland after being charged with corruption and cruelty towards local Dutch farmers. The farm is now owned by a subsidiary of the large mining company Anglo American, who have restored the farmhouse to its original magnificence and continue to produce some of South Africa's best wines there. The farm is open to tourists. Somerset West was founded in 1822 on part of the historic farm, Vergelegen. The town was named Somerset after a British governor of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

during the 1800s, Lord Charles Somerset, with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it from Somerset East, another South African town in the Eastern Cape. In the 1830s,

Sir Lowry's Pass Sir Lowry's Pass is a mountain pass on the N2 national road in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It crosses the Hottentots Holland Mountains between Somerset West and the Elgin valley, on the main route between Cape Town and the Gard ...

, named after later governor

Sir Lowry Cole Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, (1 May 1772 – 4 October 1842) was an Anglo-Irish British Army general and politician. Early life Cole was the second son of an Irish peer, William Willoughby Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (1 March 1736&ndas ...

, was constructed to link the town with outposts further east over the

Hottentots-Holland The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. The range is primarily composed of Ta ...

mountains. In the 1960s, the

AECI AECI Limited () is a South African chemicals group and is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange. History The company was registered as ''African Explosives and Industries '' (AE&I) in 1924, with its headquarters in Johannesburg. It was formed as ...

factory between Somerset West and Strand was the second largest dynamite factory in the world.

Geography

Somerset West is located on the N2 about east 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 ...

and kilometres south of Stellenbosch. The town borders Strand and Gordon's Bay and is overlooked by the

Helderberg Mountain The Helderberg Mountain is part of the Hottentots-Holland mountain range in the Western Cape, South Africa. The Helderberg Nature Reserve is situated on the slopes of the beautiful Helderberg Mountain overlooking the town of Somerset West and F ...

(meaning "clear mountain"), a part of the

range of mountains. The Hottentots-Holland mountains surround Somerset West in an amphitheatre shape.

Suburbs

Somerset West includes more than 65 suburbs covering a large area of 61.37 square kilometres within its administrative boundaries, extending from the satellite villages of Firgrove in the west and

Sir Lowry's Pass Village Sir Lowry's Pass Village is a town near the base of Sir Lowry's Pass, about 60 km from Cape Town, South Africa. History In 1846 there was a post office, run by a postmistress, Mrs Walters, and six farms in the area. 43 years later the first ...

in the east. It includes the following suburbs: *Andas Estate *Bel' Aire *Bene *Bergaio *Boskloof Eco Estate *Braeview *Bridgebank *Bridgewater *Briza *Canwick *Carey Parks *Cherrywood Gardens *Chris Nissen Village *Dennegeur *Die Wingerd *Dorhill *Erinvale Golf Estate *Fairview Heights * Firgrove (incl. Firgrove Rural) *Fraai Gelegen *Garden Village *Golden Acre *Golden Hill *Greenway Rise *Haumannshof *Helderberg *Helderberg Estate *Helderberg Rural *Helderberg Village *Helderrand *Heldervue *Helderzicht *Helena Heights *Heritage Mews *Heritage Park *Illaire *Jacques Hill *Jonkershoogte *Kalamunda *La Concorde *La Montagne *La Sandra * Land en Zeezicht *Lionviham *Longdown Estate *Lynn's View *Martinville *Montclair *Monte Sereno *Morningside *Natures Valley *Olive Grove *Paardevlei *

Parel Vallei Parel Vallei is an affluent suburb Cape Town and also of Somerset West in the Western Cape, South Africa. There is a high school, Parel Vallei High School. There is a section of upper Parel Vallei road that is known as Spook Hill Spook Hill is ...

*Pearl Marina *Radloff Park *Rome Glen *Shady Glen *

*Somerset Ridge *Spanish Farm (incl. Spanish Farm Ext 1) *Steenbras View *Steyn's Nest *Stuart's Hill *The Vines *Victoria Park *Westridge *Zandberg Greater Somerset West which extends beyond the town's administrative boundaries also includes the nearby settlements of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

and Macassar to the west. Greater Somerset West has also grown tremendously in the past decade with developments both taking place in the east and west of Somerset West but most notably in the west of the town. The development west of Somerset West is currently stringing along the N2 and R102 on the large open space between Croydon and Firgrove which separates the

region from the

Cape Flats The Cape Flats ( af, Die Kaapse Vlakte) is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lie ...

region along the

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

. The large open space which once isolated Somerset West from the rest of the Cape Metropole has slowly been closed by the development merging the rest of the metropole with Helderberg to form a more integrated metropolitan area. The developments here mainly consist of gated estates such as the Sitari Country Estate, Croydon Vineyard Estate, Croydon Olive Estate and Kelderhof Country Village. In the south-west of Somerset West is the current mixed-use development of Paardevlei which includes a new private hospital owned by Busamed.

Retail

Being the largest town in the

region, Somerset West also serves as the main retail hub for the region as well as further surrounding towns such as Grabouw,

Botrivier Botrivier is a small town of approximately 10 000 people, situated in the Overberg region of the Western Cape in South Africa. Village in the former Caledon district, 93 km southeast of Cape Town. It takes its name from the Bot River on the ...

and Stellenbosch. The largest shopping centre in Somerset West is Somerset Mall located on the corner of the R44 Broadway Boulevard and N2 at the Exit 43 off-ramp. There is a large concentration of retail facilities in the vicinity of Somerset Mall, such as Helderberg Mall, Somerset Value Centre and The Sanctuary. Waterstone Village Shopping Centre is located on the corner of the M9 and R44 in the western suburb of Heldervue and Vergelegen Plein is located in the eastern suburb of Dennegeur. Sitari Country Estate just outside Somerset West also has a new shopping centre, Sitari Village Mall.

Tourism

Somerset West offers several tourist attractions due to its position on the Hottentots-Holland mountains and between the

Cape Winelands The Boland (Afrikaans for "top country" or "land above") is a region of the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated to the northeast of Cape Town in the middle and upper courses of the Berg and Breede Rivers, around the Boland Mountains ...

and the nearby beaches of Strand and Gordon's Bay.

Wine

Somerset West forms part of the Helderberg Wine Region which is a wine-producing sub-region of the greater Stellenbosch Wine Region. Helderberg includes wine estates such as include 96 Winery, Alto, Audacia, Annandale, Cavalli, Ernie Els, Grangehurst, Guardian Peak, Haskell, Hidden Valley, Idiom, Ken Forrester, Klein Welmoed, Le Riche, Longridge, Lourensford, Lyngrove, Miravel, Morgenster, Peter Falke, Post House, Somerbosch, Uva Mira, Vergelegen, Vergenoegd and Waterkloof. The most popular and nearest wine estates amongst the many surrounding Somerset West are Vergelegen and Lourensford. The Vergelegen Wine Estate lies on the border of Somerset West, spanning into the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. The buildings on the estate constitute fine examples of

Cape Dutch architecture Cape Dutch architecture is an architectural style found mostly in the Western Cape of South Africa, but modern examples of the style have also been exported as far afield as Western Australia and New Zealand, typically on wine estates. The styl ...

. The Lourensford Wine Estate which neighbours the Vergelegen Wine Estate features the Lourensford Market and a Sports car museum known as MOTOR Studio.

Festivals

Every December, the town has a display of Christmas lights erected atop the street lights of the Main Road. The Helderberg Lights Festival (aka the Strawberry Festival), a flea market and parade, normally complements these lights.

Nature

The

Helderberg Nature Reserve Helderberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Somerset West, South Africa. This nature reserve is located on the southern slopes of the Helderberg mountains. Its 398 ha consist mostly of “Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos” (a highly species-rich ...

, a 363 hectare natural wildlife preserve opened in 1964, contains a wide variety of smaller fauna (small antelope, tortoises and other reptiles) and indigenous flora such as '' Protea'' and

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

Guest Houses & B&Bs

In recent years many guest houses and B&Bs have opened up in Somerset West, since it is conveniently located for

( away on the N2 motorway), the beaches at the Strand and Gordon's Bay, and the Western Cape's numerous wine farms.

Education

The town has a range of primary and secondary educational facilities. Primary schools * Somerset West Primary School *

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

* Somerset College * Somerset West Private School * Helderberg Primary School * De Hoop Primary *

Beaumont Primary Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex **Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * Be ...

* International School of Helderberg *

Danie Ackerman Primary School Danie is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Danie Brits, retired South African professional wrestler and former South African Heavyweight Champion *Danie Coetzee (born 1977), South African rugby union footballer *Danie Craven (191 ...

* Reddam House Somerset *

Newberry Montessori School Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury (surname), Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (born 1956), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driv ...

* Curro Primary School High schools *

Hottentots Holland High School Hottentots-Holland High School is an Afrikaans- and English-speaking school in the Western Cape in South Africa, situated between the towns of Somerset West and Strand. The parallel-medium, co-educational school, situated to the northeast of the ...

Parel Vallei High School Parel Vallei High School is a co-ed high school located in Parel Vallei, a suburb of Somerset West, which is in the Western Cape, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in ...

*Somerset College * Somerset West Private School *Helderberg High School * International School of Helderberg * Gordon High School * Reddam House Somerset *The Mayor Matthews Institution for Excellence *Christian Kotzé Higher Education * Helderberg College of Higher Education

Transport

Busses

Somerset West is serviced by the commuter bus service of Golden Arrow which services the Cape Metropole. Golden Arrow links Somerset West with

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, Bellville,

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to be the largest

, Lwandle, Macassar,

Nyanga Nyanga may mean: *Nyanga Province, of Gabon * Nyanga River, in Gabon and Congo *Nyanga people, an ethnic group from Congo *Nyanga, Zimbabwe, a town *Nyanga District, Zimbabwe *Nyanga National Park in Zimbabwe * Nyanga, Western Cape, a township in S ...

, Strand and Mitchell's Plain.

Rail

Somerset West lies on the Strand rail branch of the ''

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

'' operated by Metrorail Western Cape commuter rail system which connects Somerset West to

in the north-west via Firgrove,

Eersterivier Eerste River (Eersterivier in Afrikaans, meaning "first river") is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and a suburb of the City of Cape Town. It forms part of the Oostenberg subregion of the city situated behind the Stellenbosch/Vlaeberg Hi ...

Kuilsrivier Kuils River (Afrikaans: Kuilsrivier) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, 25 km (15 miles) east of Cape Town CBD at the gateway of the Cape Winelands. It is also the name of the main tributary of the Eerste River, and forms part of the ...

and Bellville and to Strand in the south-east via Van der Stel. Somerset West's considerably far distance from Cape Town within the metropole means that the railway remains an important link to the city and therefore transports huge numbers of commuters every day.

Roads

Somerset West has access to one national route, the N2 and two regional routes, the R44 and R102. The N2 highway links Somerset West to Cape Town International Airport and

in the north-west and Grabouw and

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

in the east. The N2 highway to Cape Town begins as a freeway after the intersection with the R102 on the outskirts of Somerset West. After the R102 intersection, the N2 passes under the R44 off-ramp (Exit 43) near Somerset Mall. The R44 links Somerset West to Stellenbosch in the north as ''Broadway Boulevard''/''Strand Road'' and Strand, Gordon's Bay and Kleinmond in the south-east as ''Main Road''. The R102 links Somerset West to

in the north-west via Firgrove,

and

as ''Strand Road''. From Kuilsrivier, the R102 further links to Bellville and Cape Town. Somerset West has access to several metropolitan routes in the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area. The M9 ''Main Road'' links Somerset West to Wynberg in Cape Town via Macassar,

Philippi Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colon ...

and

in the north-west and

in the south-east. The M149 Victoria Street links Somerset West to Strand (via R44). The M153 links Somerset West to Strand in the south-east. The M156 links Somerset West with Firgrove in the north-west.

Taxis

Somerset West is served two kinds of taxis: metered taxis and minibus taxis. Unlike many cities and towns in South Africa, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the town to solicit fares and instead must be called to a specific location. Metered taxi companies operating in Somerset West include

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

, Bolt,

InDriver inDrive (previously known as inDriver), is an international ride-hailing service with more than 150 million downloads operating in 47 countries. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, it is the second largest ridesharing and taxi app world ...

and Didi. Minibus taxis are a major form of public transportation in Somerset West and the majority of minibus taxis terminate at the Somerset West Taxi Interchange/Terminus in the CBD.

Notable people

Selborne Boome Christopher Selborne Boome (born 16 April 1975) is a South African former professional rugby union player who has made 20 appearances for the South African national rugby union team, the Springboks. He represented Northampton Saints and Montfer ...

– rugby union player *

Ramsay Carelse Ramsay Carelse (born 30 October 1985) is a South African high jumper. He was born in Somerset West, Western Cape. He finished fifth at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics, 2004 World Junior Championships, fifth at the Athletics at th ...

– high jumper * Eddie Daniels – ex-political prisoner on Robben Island * Justin Harding - golfer * Trevor Immelman – professional golfer and winner of the 2008 Masters Tournament. *

Chris McGregor Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990) was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa. Early influences McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Provin ...

– jazz pianist, bandleader and composer *

H. V. Morton Henry Canova Vollam Morton (known as H. V. Morton), (26 July 1892 – 18 June 1979) was a journalist and pioneering travel writer from Lancashire, England. He was best known for his many books on London, Great Britain and the Holy Land. He fi ...

– journalist and travel writer * Ernest "Eddie" Peirce – boxer *

Handré Pollard Handré Pollard (born 11 March 1994) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby. His regular playing positions are fly-half, where ...

- rugby union player *

Storm Roux Storm James Roux ( ; born 13 January 1993) is a New Zealand international footballer who plays as a right back for A-League Men club Central Coast Mariners and the New Zealand national team. Roux played youth football with Sorrento, Football ...

- New Zealand international footballer

Coats of arms

Municipality (1) — Somerset West was a municipality in its own right from 1904 to 1996. The council approved its first coat of arms on 23 April 1935.Western Cape Archives : Somerset West Municipal Minutes (23 April 1935). : Municipality (2) — In 1953, the council approved a new design, by Ivan Mitford-Barberton and H. Ellis Tomlinson. This was in response to a Cape Provincial Administration circular calling on municipalities to have their arms checked and, if necessary, re-designed to make them heraldically correct. The arms were granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

on 25 November 1953. They were registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1994.National Archives of South Africa : Data of the Bureau of Heraldry
/ref> The arms were: ''Azure, a portcullis chained Or; on a chief of the last a setting sun Gules'' (i.e. a blue shield displaying a red setting sun on a golden stripe across the top, and a golden portcullis with chains below it). The crest was a golden demi-lion holding a vine, issuing from a red mural crown charged with three golden rings. The motto was ''Prorsum sursum''. The design is canting: the portcullis comes from the Somerset family arms, and the setting sun denotes the west.

Gallery

References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Cape Town Populated places established in 1822 1822 establishments in the Cape Colony zh:開普敦