Carnarvon: A Trio of Churches

It was still early (11:15) when we reached Loxton and we decided to add another town to our day trip.  Carnarvon was only 65 km from Loxton and after walking around in Loxton for 20 minutes we started the drive.  It took us about 40 minutes to reach Carnarvon.
The town was deserted on the Sunday afternoon.  Most of the shops etc were closed and there were only a few people in the streets.  The first church we saw was the Uniting Reformed Church built in 1857 and in 1879 it was enlarged and the clock tower was added.  It is a beautiful church and I liked the big rooster on top of the weather vane. 
Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk / Dutch Reformed Mission Church / Carnarvon
The congregation was started in 1847 by the Rhenish Missionary Church (“Rynse Sending Kerk”).  The congregation was transferred to the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in 1943 and in 1994 it became part of the Uniting Reformed Church (“Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk”).  The church is a National Heritage Site.
Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk / Dutch Reformed Mission Church / Carnarvon
Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk / Dutch Reformed Mission Church / Carnarvon 
The next church we visited was the St Alban’s Anglican Church.  The corner stone of this church was laid on 4 September 1915.  We love old stone churches but could not decide if we like this brown church with its square tower and small windows.  The church is a National Heritage Site.
Carnarvon, Northern Cape
Carnarvon, Northern Cape
Carnarvon, Northern Cape 
The last church of the day was the Dutch Reformed Church.  The congregation was started in 1875 and the first church was consecrated in 1882.  The current and more modern church was built in 1954 because the old church was in a falling apart.  The high tower of this church also had a pretty rooster on top.
Carnarvon, Northern Cape
Carnarvon, Northern Cape

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eyewitness Travel Guides – A Book Review

Image
  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Travel Top 10 London traveled with us.   We stayed in London for 4 da
Read more

Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê

Image
   Weather vane on the VGK Church in Carnarvon    This photo made me think of a song we used to sing as kids.    It is a traditional Afrikaans song about the rooster on top of the church. The words of the song and its translation: Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower Dis die haan, Dis die haan It’s the rooster, It’s the rooster Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower More about all the churches and other buildings we saw in Carnarvon in the next post.
Read more

Dutch Reformed Mother Church, George

Image
One of my favourite sights in George is the white Dutch Reformed Mother Church with the beautiful Outeniqua Mountain as background.   I have many memories of visiting this church: On a history class trip when I was about 10, for a art class when I was about 13, for my cousins wedding in 2004, for her baby’s christening a few years later and many other times.   But most of all I like seeing this church every time we drive through town.   The cornerstone for the church was laid on 14 April 1832.   Slaves were used for some of the building work like the digging of the six-foot deep by five-foot wide foundations.   Due to financial problems it took 12 years to complete the church and it was consecrated in 9 October 1842.  The church is a National Heritage Site. On 13 September 1905 disaster struck when the church tower collapsed.   The wood rotted from water damage and lead to the walls weakening.   After a lot of rain for two days the tower collapsed.   The tower was reb
Read more