Hilton is a small town that lies near the city of Pietemaritzburg in the province of KwaZulu-Natal,

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 ...

. In 1872 the Reverend William Orde Newnham opened Hilton College on a large estate 7.8km north of th
town
which is now one of South Africa's leading private schools.

History

The woman who named Hilton was Jane Henderson, her husband Joseph Henderson (1825–1899): merchant, banker, financier and politician. He married Jane Maidstone née Pearson on the 13th Aug 1849 in Pietermaritzburg and accompanied

Theophilus Shepstone Theophilus Shepstone Sir Theophilus Shepstone (8 January 181723 June 1893) was a British South African statesman who was responsible for the annexation of the Transvaal to Britain in 1877. Early life Theophilus Shepstone was born at Westbury ...

as adviser to the Transvaal in 1877. Education in Hilton includes Cowan House, a private mixed boarding school for over 300 pupils. The school, founded in 1948 was destroyed in a fire in 1997 and was rebuilt the same year. Also St. Anne's Diocesan College,

Grace College, Hilton Grace College is a private, co-educational, christianity, Christian high school located in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. External links

* {{coord, -29.53710, 30.29811, type:edu_globe:earth_region:ZA, display=title Schools in Kwa ...

college and Laddsworth Primary School.

Geography

Hilton lies on the brow of the escarpment above the neighbouring city of Pietermaritzburg, approximately 9 km north-west of the city's CBD, 77 km north-west of the city of

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

and 11 km south-east of Howick. Organisationally and administratively, it is included in the uMngeni Local Municipality and the larger

uMgungundlovu District Municipality uMgungundlovu is one of the 11 district municipalities ("districts") of KwaZulu-Natal province. The seat of uMgungundlovu is Pietermaritzburg. The majority of its 1 million+ residents speak Zulu (2001 Census). The district code is DC22 Geograph ...

. Hilton is bordered by Garlington Estate to the north, the city of Pietermaritzburg and the suburban area of Chase Valley to the south-east and the village of Cedara to the north-west.

Suburban areas

The majority of Hilton including the town centre lies to the south of the N3 highway apart from the small suburb of Hilton Gardens which lies to the north of the N3. The remaining suburbs of Hilton include Berry Hill, Hiltara Park (portmanteau of Hilton and Cedara), Leonard, Mountain Homes, Mount Michael, Sweetwaters, Winterskloof and World's View.

Transport

Roads

Hilton is mainly accessed by the major N3 highway which is the only freeway that passes through Hilton. The N3 bypasses Hilton to the north and links the town to Howick and

Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. It is situated by the Wilge River, alongside the N3 highway, ab ...

and further to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

in the north-west and Pietermaritzburg and

in the south-east. Access from the N3 can mainly be obtained through the M80 ''Hilton Avenue'' off-ramp (Exit 94) and can alternatively be accessed through the R103 ''Cedara Road'' off-ramp (Exit 96) in Cedara. Hilton's main road is ''Hilton Avenue'' which runs through the town centre and links to the N3 and Hilton College in the north and continues southwards as Dennis Shepstone Drive to Sweetwaters in the south. The R103 is the other main road that traverses through Hilton. The R103 is the original N3 and served the same function before the construction of the highway. Similarly to the current N3, the R103 was the main road between Durban and Howick via Pietermaritzburg and thus the name of the road being ''Old Howick Road''. The R103 links the town to Cedara, Howick, Mooi River and

Estcourt Estcourt () is a town in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The main economic activity is farming with large bacon and processed food factories situated around the town. The N3 freeway passes close to the town, link ...

in the north-west and Pietermaritzburg, Camperdown,

Cato Ridge Cato Ridge is a town in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality as a suburb of the Outer West region. It is situated some 30 km south-east of ...

, Hillcrest and

(via the M13) in the south-east.

History

Geography

Suburban areas

Transport

Roads

References

Further reading