Discover the Beauty of Greyton in the Overberg

Greyton, a village in the Cape, was founded in 1852. Despite the fact that the first lots were only sold in 1854. Sir George Grey, who served as the Cape's governor from 1854 to 1861, is honored by the name. The census of 1891 showed that there were 276 people living there. The Hassequas khoikhoi tribe lived in the lush plains and wooded gorges of the region. They had their kraals close to the river they named Gobos after their ancestor chief. Ensign Schriver of the Castle of Good Hope was dispatched here in the late 1600s to negotiate with their captain, Captain Stoffel Koekson, over their thousands of heads of livestock and sheep. Due to his success in bartering, Koekson finally moved his people into the Boschmanskloof and constructed for them decent mud-brick homes, the foundations of which can still be seen today under the older homes in the area. The young Dutchman Marthinus Theunissen received Koekson's tribe lands in 1793, and he later constructed a homestead on his farm, "Weltevreden," which is no longer extant. He did not stay for very long since he was unable to settle the ongoing arguments about boundaries and runaway animals with his neighbors in Boschmanskloof and Genadendal. Later proprietors of Weltevreden included two affluent brothers from the well-known Constantina horse-breeding Cloete family. Marthinus Theunissen, who at one point owned Vergelegen, amassed enormous wealth in Stellenbosch. Herbert Vigne, a prosperous Englishman, purchased Weltevreden in 1846. In 1854, he founded a freehold agricultural community on Weltevreden, reserving two tiny parcels for himself and leaving the rest to the community as commonage. In honor of Sir George Grey, the Cape's then-Gov., he gave the community the name "Greyton." J. G. Rietz, a prominent surveyor at the time, planned and drew out the village's layout, which has undergone just a few minor alterations and additions over time. Buyers of every race, nation, or religion were able to purchase the widely sized properties for inexpensive costs. Only in this town on the Cape could one purchase such land with complete title deeds, water rights, and grazing rights.

Elizabeth Belshaw, a young woman of British descent who was 27 years younger than Herbert, and he were married in the 1860s. They made their home at their farm, De Bos, in the community (subsequently subdivided by his heirs after his death in 1895). A committed group of people established homes, businesses, and smallholdings in the town within 50 years. They also opened a school and two churches. Here, they coexisted in harmony, serenity, and religious tolerance. The town's original street furrow irrigation system, the town kraal and dipping tank, a blacksmith's house and forge, the school's boarding house, and the vast public commonage that is crisscrossed by walking, hiking, and cycling paths that surround the town are just a few of the original structures and features that have survived. Two historic churches, some of the first houses constructed between 1854 and 1860, two old churches, an old shepherd's hut constructed before 1840 that is now incorporated into "The Old Potter's Inn" building on Greyton's Main Road, are also there.

Article Courtesy of www.sahistory.org.za/place/greyton-western-province