Milnerton is a seaside town on

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the fl ...

and is located 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located 11 kilometres to the north of the city's centre.

Geography

Milnerton lies on the Western Seaboard of

, also known as the Blaauwberg Coast, just north of the city along

. Although Milnerton is a town in its own right, it still regarded as a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Cape Town. It is bordered by Cape Town and Goodwood to the south, Blouberg to the north and Parow to the east. Much of the town is situated east of the Diep River

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

(Milnerton Lagoon) with the exception of the coastal suburbs of Woodbridge Island, Sunset Links and Sunset Beach situated west of the lagoon. Milnerton Central, only about 0,1 km² in size is situated between Marine Drive and Koeberg Road and is situated east of Woodbridge Island.

Suburban areas

Suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of the greater Milnerton area include: * Bothasig *

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Cent ...

* Edgemead * Joe Slovo Park * Lagoon Beach * Marconi Beam * Metro Industrial Township * Milnerton Ridge * Montague Gardens * Monte Vista * Paarden Eiland * Phoenix * Plattekloof Glen * Rugby * Sanddrift * Summer Greens * Sunset Beach * Sunset Links * Tijgerhof * Woodbridge Island

Milnerton lagoon

One of the most identifiable features of Milnerton is its

, formed where the Diep River enters the sea, with palm trees adorning the lagoon banks. The lagoon is also known as

Schitt's Creek ''Schitt's Creek'' (stylized as ''Schitt$ Creek'') is a Canadian television sitcom created by Dan Levy (Canadian actor), Dan Levy and his father, Eugene Levy, that aired on CBC Television from 2015 to 2020. It consists of 80 episodes spread ove ...

, due to the pungent smell that is emitted into the adjacent environment.

Woodbridge Island

Woodbridge Island is not actually an island, but rather the area south of Milnerton Golf Club on the peninsula separating the lagoon from the ocean. Two bridges join Woodbridge Island to the mainland of Milnerton proper. The wooden

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

is now a

national heritage site A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regis ...

, the bridge went through an upgrade phase and has since been reopened to the public. A newer bridge allows cars to cross to the island. The Milnerton Lighthouse is also a popular landmark found on the island. The beach is a popular recreational area, especially over weekends and public holidays.

Milnerton beach

Milnerton's beach is well known for its view of Table Mountain and is a popular

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

spot. The water is generally cold as a result of the

Benguela current The Benguela Current is the broad, northward flowing ocean current that forms the eastern portion of the South Atlantic Ocean gyre. The current extends from roughly Cape Point in the south, to the position of the Angola-Benguela Front in the no ...

that flows along Africa's western shore. The beach is also managed by Milnerton Surf Lifesaving Club, who help to prevent drownings on the beach and surrounding area. Every Wednesday during summer the surfski and stand up paddlers use the SE winds and race the Downwind Dash series to Big Bay beach.

Nature reserves

Milnerton is the location of two

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s which are owned and managed by the City of Cape Town. The Table Bay Nature Reserve Milnerton Racecourse Section is situated inside the race tracks of the old Milnerton Racecourse.

Transport

The N7 (Cape Namibia Route) is the main highway bisecting Milnerton, running north–south from

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

to Goodwood and passing the interchanges at Bosmansdam and Plattekloof Roads. The N1 highway borders Milnerton to the south, passing

and Paarden Eiland and runs east–west from

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

. The R27 (Marine Drive; Otto du Plessis Drive) roughly runs north–south along the coast from Melkbosstrand and Table View towards Cape Town. Milnerton is also served by five metropolitan routes linking it to surrounding towns and cities in the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town (; ) is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the metropolitan municipality (South Africa), local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of ...

. The M5 (Koeberg Road) runs N to S from Killarney Gardens to Muizenberg. The M8 (Bosmansdam Road) runs W to E from Milnerton to Plattekloof. The M12 (Giel Basson Drive) runs N to S from Burgundy Estate and Sunningdale to Parow and Goodwood. The M13 (Tygerberg Valley Drive) roughly runs W to E from Milnerton to Richwood and

Durbanville Durbanville, previously called Pampoenkraal, is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, part of the greater City of Cape Town, Cape Town metropolitan area. It is a semi-rural residential suburb on the north-eastern outskirts of the ...

. The M14 (Plattekloof Road) runs W to E from Milnerton to Plattekloof.

Coat of arms

Milnerton had its own municipality from 1955 to 1996. The town council assumed a coat of arms, designed by Cornelis Pama, in October 1963,Western Cape Archives : Milnerton Municipal Minutes (16 October 1963). and registered it with the Cape Provincial Administration in February 1966Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 3332 (18 February 1966). and at the Bureau of Heraldry in February 1968.
/ref> The arms were : ''Per chevron ploye Or with two horse-shoe Gules, and barry wavy of eight Azure and Argent'' (i.e. the shield was divided by a curved chevron-shaped line, the upper part displaying two red horseshoes on a gold background and the lower part having eight silver and blue stripes with wavy edges). The crest was a red demi-horse and the motto ''Per mare per terram''.

Notable residents

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

, Anglican Arch Bishop. * David Graaff, businessman and politician.

References

Milnerton.info
Accessed 28 April 2006.

External links

Milnerton.org - Latest news and information about MilnertonLive web cam views onto the Milnerton Lagoon and Cape TownMilnerton Central Residents Association
{{Cape Town, communities Suburbs of Cape Town