Caledon, originally named ''Swartberg'', is a town in the

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the e ...

region in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province of South Africa, located about east of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

next to mineral-rich hot springs. it had a population of 13,020. It is located in, and the seat of, the

Theewaterskloof Local Municipality Theewaterskloof Municipality (; ) is a local municipality located within the Overberg District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2022, the population was 139,563. Its municipality code is WC031. The enormous Theew ...

. The town continues to be inhabited by

Khoikhoi Khoikhoi (Help:IPA/English, /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally Nomad, nomadic pastoralist Indigenous peoples, indigenous population of South Africa. They ...

communities who, before the arrival of colonizing forces, were the wealthiest on this land. Caledon is situated on the N2 national route, by road from central Cape Town. At Caledon the N2 is met by the R316 from Arniston and

Bredasdorp Bredasdorp is a town in the Southern Overberg region of the Western Cape, South Africa, and the main economic and service hub of that region. It lies on the northern edge of the Agulhas Plain, about south-east of Cape Town and north of Cape Agu ...

, and the R320 from

Hermanus Hermanus (; originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

. It is also located on the Overberg branch railway line, by rail from Cape Town station. The Caledon district is primarily an

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

region. Most agricultural activities involve

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

production with a certain amount of stock farming. The town is locally well known for the Caledon Spa and Casino, and for its rolling hills and yellow

canola file:CanolaBlooms.JPG, Close-up of canola blooms file:Canola Flower.jpg, Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both Edible oil, edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several ...

fields in spring.

Geography

The town has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

of warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Temperatures are modified by its close proximity to the South

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, just over the Klein River Mountains to the south.

History

The place was originally known in Dutch as ''Bad agter de Berg'' (Bath Behind the Mountain). A bath house was built in 1797 and a village called Swartberg sprang up, which was on 31 December 1813 renamed Caledon in honor of the Irish peer Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon (1777–1839), the first British governor of the Cape (1806–1811).

Notable residents

The writer Peter Dreyer was born in Caledon at the Caledon Baths Hotel in 1939. Rhodesian government minister P. K. van der Byl retired to Caledon and subsequently died there, in Fairfield. His father, anti-Apartheid politician P. V. van der Byl, was born in Caledon in 1889.

Attractions

* Caledon Museum, Constitution Street. * K3 ZIPLINE - World's Longest Zipline, N2 Road, Caledon.

References

External links

Caledon History
{{Authority control Populated places in the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality Populated places established in 1811 Hot springs of South Africa