Lu-Gerda's Travels

On Friday 9 August 2013 we spent the day in Oudtshoorn.  We started by walking along Baron van Rheede Street and soon we reached St Jude’s Church.  This was my favourite stop of day and the best part was that it was open and we could visit the inside. The original church was designed by Sophy Gray and was erected besteen 1860 and 1865.   The current church was largely the work of architect George Wallis and was built in 1897.   It incorporates parts of the original church. This church is the oldest stone building in the town, built with sandstone by four Scottish stone masons.  The church is a National Heritage Site. Inside we saw some beautiful stain glass windows.  Also some interesting memorials and a flag presented to the Oudtshoorn Volunteers by King Edward VII in 1904.

Hello everyone, I was very excited to visit St Mark’s Cathedral in George.  I have passed t his building in my hometown hundreds of times but have never even entered the gate.  And I knew very little about this cathedral’s history.  Then in 2012 H and I started to visit churches designed by Sophy Gray.  When I learned that St Mark’s was one of them I really wanted to visit .   We went for a walk to explore some of George’s old buildings in January this year.  (Read more here , here and here )  The church ground was open when we reached it, but visiting hours for the inside was over.  So we will have to do that on another day.   George was one of the towns where the government placed a Colonial Chaplain for the English community.  He used the Dutch Reformed church for services but in 1848 collections were started to build a church.  In February 1848 Bishop Gray arrived in the Cape.  His wife Sophy lai...

We were very excited to visit the two churches designed by Sohpy Gray in Swellendam.   (Read more about Sohpy Gray Churches here ) I did some reading about these churches and found that the one was demolished soon after it was build.   It is disappointing but luckily there was another church to visit. Christ Church Bishop Robert Gray visited Swellendam a few times during his time in South Africa. His first visit in 1848 was to help the English community with a church.   In 1849 a site was found and his wife, Sophy, discussed the plans for the church.   The first reverend also arrived in the town. The foundation stone for the church was laid in 1852 while the Gray’s were in England.   When they visited three years later they found a pretty English style stone church but the work was not good quality. The west side was not built correctly and was taken down and rebuilt.   The church was consecrated in 1855. Unfortunately the poor building wo...

I still have 2 posts left about my 2008 trip to Europe but I just cannot seem to find the right words.   So I will finish that trip later.   While thinking about what to write I discovered that I never posted my last post about our day in Heidelberg and Riversdale in December last year. We spend the morning in Heidelberg exploring the town , the Dutch Reformed Church and the Anglican Church . We then drove the 30 kilometers to Riversdale and walked around in the town. One of the highlights of the day was visiting St Matthew’s Church.   Bishop Gray visited Riversdale in 1848 and in 1850 he was offered a site for the building of a church.   The church was designed by Sophy Gray and building started in about 1854.   The cornerstone was laid on 22 November 1854.   Bishop Gray consecrated the church on 25 September 1856. We entered the church grounds through an old gate for a closer look.  ...

Driving around in Victoria West on a Sunday morning we saw a small rectangular church in Church Street.    It looked as if the church was not in use anymore.   The building and garden looked neglected and there were no people. (It was Sunday morning and we expected people coming to church services.)   We stopped a to take a look.   We admired the outside from across the street and then saw the name board with “Architect – Sophia Gray”.   The first Anglican services in Victoria West were held in 1862 and the foundation stone for the church was laid on 27 December 1869.   Building work was not completed during the huge flood in 1871 and the church was mostly undamaged.   Building work continued and the church was completed in 1874. Walking closer we saw that the gate was unlocked and we went inside for a closer look.   The church door was locked.   We walked around to the back through long grass and dead flower plants in po...

During our walk in Beaufort West we was some beautiful churches.   Christ Church (the Anglican Church on the corner of Donkin and Hill Street) was one of our main reasons for visiting the town. We were very surprised to find another beautiful stone church close to Christ Church on the corner of Donkin and Devenish Street.   The small School Chapel or Christ Church Lodge was built in 1849.   According to Desmond Martin in his book “The Bishop’s Churches” there is good reasons to believe that the chapel was built from a design by Sophy Gray.   Bishop Gray visited the town in November 1848 and a minister was appointed.   The Bishop’s journal does not mention the chapel but the design is similar to the Newlands Chapel and other Sophy Gray Churches.   Christ Church was designed by Sophy Gray and was completed in 1854. It was consecrated by Bishop Gray on 21 October 1855.   The church was later altered: the m...