Cradock Tourist Attractions

Cradock Information

Permanent water diverted from the Orange River has given stability that many other rural areas lack in that the periodic devastating droughts are made less severe by the lucerne and maize that is grown and that the farmers are able to produce winter grazing for their animals.  The water has also enabled them to branch out into other farming enterprises such as ostrich and vegetable farming.

Cradock History

The Eastern Frontier of the early 1800’s (1770 – 1814) was the meeting of two cultures, the Boer and the Xhosa, both of whom looked upon cattle as their wealth. They both coveted the same grazing area. Earlier the Eastern trek of the Boers was through the arid areas of the Cape, and Graaff Reinett was founded as the Fourth Drostdy in 1786.

It was in 1814 that Sir John Cradock decided to build a series of forts along the lower Fish River and all the way up to the Cradock to try to contain the Xhosa people to the East of the Fish River which had been proclaimed the boundary by the Government of the Cape.

Cradock, although intended as a fort, never saw conflict. The Xhosas in their Western migration, were nearer the lower part of the Great Fish River rather than its upper reaches.

Lord Charles Somerset succeeded Sir John Cradock and decided to invite the 1820 settlers to South Africa to act as a buffer between the Xhosa and the rest of the Cape Colony.

In 1848 Thomas Baines, the explorer and painter passed through Cradock and said that it had a population of about 9000 persons (4300 whites and 4490 coloureds). He was impressed with the great buildings, of both English and Dutch architecture.

Die Tuishuise capture the period of Thomas Baines’s visit as they were built circa 1840 – 1870 in both English and Dutch style, and housed the artisans, namely harness makers and wainwrights who made a living from the wagons and oxen and horses that passed through to the Great Northern line.

As civilization caught up with Cradock, first the Railway line in 1881 and then the motor car in 1908 – 1920 the skill of the blacksmiths, the farriers and the harness makers became less and less in demand. Poverty began to descend on the inhabitants of Market Street. This poverty resulted in that less and less money became available to modernise homes, therefore there are few streets in South Africa that can boast about houses that have stood unaltered for a hundred years.

Today Cradock is the capital of the Cape Midlands and is one of the thriving rural towns. Prosperity has come with the ability of the farmer to utilize the indigenous flora such as Karoo Bushes to produce of the best wool and mohair and to impart that typical Karoo flavour to the mutton.

Cradock Map

Cradock Excursions - Olive Schreiner's Grave Cradock Tourist Attractions
Cradock Excursions - Olive Schreiner's Grave Cradock Tourist Attractions
Olive Schreiner, her husband, Samuel Cron Cronwright, their baby and their dog, were buried in a sarcophagus on top of Buffelskop on the farm Buffelshoek, 24km south of Cradock, on the Mortimer Road.
Cradock Excursions - Olive Schreiner's Grave Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Cradock Excursions - Salpeterkop Hike Cradock Tourist Attractions
Cradock Excursions - Salpeterkop Hike Cradock Tourist Attractions
For someone who enjoys a stiff hike, spectacular vistas, and is interested in Anglo-Boer War artifacts this hike in the Mountain Zebra National Park is of special interest.
Cradock Excursions - Salpeterkop Hike Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Cradock Excursions - Oukop Hill Cradock Tourist Attractions
Cradock Excursions - Oukop Hill Cradock Tourist Attractions
For a panoramic view of the whole of Cradock take a drive up "Oukop": it will only take 20 minutes of your time. A little piece of the Karoo, just above town, awaits you. Do not forget to take your camera with you.
Cradock Excursions - Oukop Hill Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Egg Rock Cradock Tourist Attractions
Egg Rock Cradock Tourist Attractions
A 10m high egg-shaped dolerite rock, weighing approx, 488 tons, precariously balanced on edge.
Egg Rock Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Phone: 048 881 0040 Email
Olive Schreiner House Museum Tourist Attractions
Olive Schreiner House Museum Cradock Tourist Attractions
Olive Schreiner, the famous South African authoress, who amongst many other literary works, wrote "Story of an African Farm", lived in this house at 9 Cross Street in her youth, between 1867 – 1870.
Olive Schreiner House Museum Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Phone: 048 881 5251 Email
The Great Fish River Museum, Cradock Cradock Tourist Attractions
The Great Fish River Museum is housed in a building that was the second Dutch Reformed Church parsonage in Cradock. It was built in 1849, and declared a National Monument in 1971.
The Great Fish River Museum, Cradock Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Phone: 048 881 4509
Jurie Lombard Watermill Cradock Tourist Attractions
Jurie Lombard Watermill Cradock Tourist Attractions
In the 1970’s the derelict mill on the farm Lombardsrus was donated to the Cradock Foundation and with the assistance of the engineering department of the Municipality was housed in the present purpose-built building in the town park. Thus,...
Jurie Lombard Watermill Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Mountain Zebra National Park Tourist Attractions
Mountain Zebra National Park Cradock Tourist Attractions
The craggy heights of the Mountain Zebra National Park's Bankberg embrace rolling plains and deep valleys, and have become an entrancing preserve for the Cape mountain zebra.
Mountain Zebra National Park Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Phone: 048 881 2427 Email
A stroll round Cradock town Cradock Tourist Attractions
A stroll round Cradock town Cradock Tourist Attractions
Cradock is a small town with a lot to see and enjoy in a small space. This makes it easy to take a slow stroll around town and see the sights.
A stroll round Cradock town Cradock Tourist Attractions in Cradock
Phone: 048 881 0040
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