Hopefield is a settlement in West Coast District Municipality 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay () 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, Western Cape, Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay ...

and Langebaan, southeast of Vredenburg and north 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 ...

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, located west of the town, as well as the West Coast Fossil park west from town, fall within town limits. Another important fossil locality, Elandsfontein (not to be confused with the town and railway station in

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

), 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 Vredenburg,

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 (Western Cape), R27, about 28 km from Vredenburg and 20 ...

and Saldanha 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