Middleton is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality of the

Sarah Baartman District Municipality The Sarah Baartman District Municipality (; ), formerly the Cacadu District Municipality, is situated in the western part of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, covering an area of 58,242 square kilometres. The area of the district municip ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

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 ...

. Middleton is situated on the banks of the Fish River off the N10 road and is about south of

Cookhouse A cookhouse is a small building where cooking takes place. Often found at remote work camps, they complemented the bunkhouse and were usually found on ranches that employed cowboys, or loggers in a logging camp. Prior to the 20th century, cook ...

History

Middleton is located near Cookhouse and was first established in 1879 as a train station to act as a layover point between larger towns. At the turn of the 20th century, the Middleton complex was developed by Mr George Webster, a blacksmith by trade. The site played a very important part in those transport days. In 1901 he donated land for the building of a church and the little church was built as a Methodist Church in 1903. At the time Middleton comprised a hotel, smithy building, general dealer’s shop, church school and 500

morgen A Morgen (Mg) is a historical, but still occasionally used, German unit of area used in agriculture. Officially, it is no longer in use, having been supplanted by the hectare. While today it is approximately equivalent to the Prussian ''morgen' ...

of veld. In 1992 the church became part of the All Saint’s United Church and it’s utilised by the residents of Middelton regularly. The old train station has now been converted into a pub. The Noupoort Christian Care Center owns the hamlet of Middleton. This center runs a

rehabilitation center Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general inten ...

for people suffering from substance

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

. The center provides recovering addicts with jobs in maintaining the grounds and establishments of Middleton.

Buildings

The most notable building in Middleton is the old train station, which has now been converted into a pub. The train station was built in 1879, and is the oldest standing building in the small hamlet. Another notable building is the All Saint's United Church, a stone church first built as a Methodist congregation in 1903. The architecture of the older buildings in Middleton is distinctly

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

, especially the train station-turned-pub.

Attractions

The old station pub offers usual pub fare along with a play area and

petting zoo A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many general ...

for children. Middleton also has B&B and camping facilities such as the Hunters Lodge and the B&B at the Manor. Travellers consider Middleton a quaint stopover on their way to other attractions. The

Addo Elephant National Park Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Gqeberha in South Africa and is one of the country's 20 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi T ...

and a number of private game reserves are less than an hour's drive south along the N10 highway from Middleton.

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

is an hour's drive southeast. Two hours to the northeast are the towns

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...

and

Nieu-Bethesda Nieu-Bethesda (Afrikaans for ''New Bethesda'') is a village in the Eastern Cape at the foot of the Sneeuberge, approximately north of Graaff Reinet. It was founded in 1875 as a church town, like many other Karoo villages, and attained municipal ...

, which are home to many attractions including the

Camdeboo National Park The Camdeboo National Park is located in the Karoo and almost completely surrounds the Eastern Cape town of Graaff-Reinet. It contains the Nqweba Dam. The park is located on the southern foothills of the Sneeuberge, Sneeuberg Mountain ranges ...

, the

Owl House, and the Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre. An hours drive to the south will take travellers to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

and on to the

Garden Route The Garden Route (Afrikaans: ''Tuinroete'') is a stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa which extends from Witsand in the Western Cape to the border of Tsitsikamma Storms River in the Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant ...

on the south coast.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Populated places in the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality Populated places established in 1875 Karoo Great Fish River

History

Buildings

Attractions

See also

References

External links