Beaufort West Museum

We left early on a Saturday morning for our long weekend in Beaufort West.  After traveling about 290km we arrived in Beaufort West at about 10:00. 

Our first stop was the museum. The museum consists of 3 buildings:  The old Town Hall, The Old Mission Church and Old Mission Church Parsonage.  Unfortunately the church and parsonage was closed during the weekend and we could only see the exhibits in the Old Town Hall. (And we did not even get discount on the ticket)
 
The Old Town Hall was built in 1867 and the clock tower was added later.  It now houses exhibits about Prof Chris Barnard and the world’s first heart transplant preformed by him in 1967.  I did not know much about Prof Barnard and the exhibit was very interesting with a lot of information about the transplant, Prof Barnard’s awards and personal live.
The Old Dutch Reformed Mission Church was built in 1871.  It houses a collection of historical outfits.  This part of the museum was closed for renovations when we visited.
The last building is the parsonage of the Old Dutch Reformed Mission Church.  Prof Chris Barnard’s father was the minister at the church and he grew up in this parsonage.
Location: Beaufort West, South Africa

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