Wellington 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 202 ...

Winelands, a 45-minute drive from Cape Town, in

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

with a population of approximately 62,000. Wellington's economy is centered on agriculture such as wine, table grapes, deciduous fruit, and a brandy industry. The town is located 75 km north-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 larges ...

, reached by the N1 motorway and R44. Due to the growth of the Flakkaland and

Mbekweni Mbekweni is a township situated between Wellington and Paarl in the Western Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by o ...

township south of the town, it now forms a

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

urban unit with

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

, just 10 km to the south. Wellington now officially falls under the Drakenstein Local Municipality, which also covers Saron and

Location

Wellington is situated at the foot of the Groenberg on the banks of the Kromme Rivier (Dutch for Crooked River) and forms the center of 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 Mountai ...

with its picturesque environment and numerous wineries. The town is at the base of one of the oldest mountain passes in South Africa, Bain's Kloof Pass, built by master road-builder Andrew Geddes Bain. The town is the home of the Boland Rugby Union and the professional rugby team the Boland Kavaliers. The town is also an academic centre, with Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Timothy Ministry Training, Bible Media, Huguenot High School, Weltevrede Senior Secondary School, and Bergriver Senior Secondary School all falling within the town.

Etymology

Originally known as ''Limiet Valley'' (border or frontier valley), the area became known as ''Val du Charron'' or ''Wagenmakersvallei'' (Valley of the Wagonmaker) toward the end of the seventeenth century when the

French Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...

settled there. After the formal establishment of the town in 1840, the name was changed to Wellington in honour of the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, renowned soldier and conqueror of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, as suggested by Sir George Napier.

Coats of arms

Municipality (1) — Wellington was a municipality in its own right from 1873 to 2000. On 18 June 1918, the town council adopted a pseudo-heraldic design as the municipal arms.Western Cape Archives : Wellington Municipal Minutes (18 June 1918). The shield was blue, and contained a landscape scene in a circular border. The shield was supported by two red lions, each with a golden coronet around its neck (these being the supporters of the arms of the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...

). The arms were depicted on a

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible cards with their packages of cigarette ...

issued in 1931. Municipality (2) — On 22 June 1948, the council approved a new coat of arms, designed by

Ivan Mitford-Barberton Ivan Mitford-Barberton (1896–1976) was a sculptor, writer and authority on heraldry. Early life and education Mitford-Barberton was born in Somerset East, in Cape Colony, in 1896. He was a descendant of several 1820 Settler families. His ...

and H. Ellis Tomlinson.Western Cape Archives : Wellington Municipal Minutes (22 June 1948). 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 registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in February 1987.National Archives of South Africa : Data of the Bureau of Heraldry
/ref> The design reflected the Huguenot origins of the town: ''Per chevron Argent and Azure, in chief two hurts, each charged with a fleur-de-lis Or, in base a Huguenot cross, Argent'' (in layman's terms : the shield is divided into silver over blue by a chevron-shaped line, in the upper half are two golden fleurs de lis on blue discs and in the lower half is a silver Huguenot cross). A blue mural crown was added as a crest. The existing supporters were retained, but were differenced by adding a silver anchor to the coronet. The motto was "Par foi et loyaute".

Notable Sites

Established in 1886, the James Sedgewick Distillery is located in Wellington, and produces the Three Ships range of whiskies, as well as the single grain Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky.

References

External links

Drakenstein Municipality

Wellington Tourism Bureau
{{Authority control Populated places in the Drakenstein Local Municipality Populated places established in 1840 1840 establishments in the Cape Colony