A memorial with a purpose The Monument was built to commemorate the contributions made by English-speaking Settlers to South Africa. It is unlike any other monument because, since its opening on 13 July 1974, this superbly equipped building has been a centre of creative thought and activity. The Monument has become a meeting place for all South Africans. It was built to commemorate a worthy heritage and to encourage us to look forward with hope. The Monument is home to the Grahamstown Foundation, the organisers of the annual Standard Bank National Arts Festival and the Sasol National Festival of Science, Engineering and Technology (SciFest). Hours : Mon-Sun 08h00 - 16h30. Tel (046) 622 7115.
Adventure
Contact Brett of Amahlati Excursions Cell: 083 631 4800
Albany Museum, incorportating Natural Sciences, Somerset Street.
http://www.ru.ac.za/affiliates/am/
This museum is the second oldest museum in SA (est. 1855). Tel: (046) 622-2312.
ARTIFICERS' SQUARE, Cross Street.
The old artisan quarter with many restored original houses which reflect a number of 1820 Settler architectural styles.
Bathurst
http://www.bathurst.co.za/
Take a drive and go to the Toposcope, Pig & Whistle or Big Pineapple as well as the art gallery, pottery and national monument Bradshaws Mill.
Beadwork
Local artists can be found selling and crafting their wares on the lawns outside the Drosdty Arch, High Street.
Bird Watching
http://bots.ru.ac.za/birds.html
Diaz Bird Club - 046 6224900 or take a walk in the Botanical Gardens.
Botanical Gardens
http://bots.ru.ac.za/
The botanical gardens adjoining Rhodes University are worth a visit, particularly on week-day mornings when few people are about. A one-hour walk can produce a list of 30 different species of birds. From Somerset Street, turn up the road between the Natural History and Cultural History sections of the Albany Museum; the main gates to the gardens are on the left, soon after you pass the Eden Grove section of Rhodes University. New developments on the upliftment of the maintenance and look of the gardens are soon to take place
Bowling
Grahamstown Bowling Club, Cawood Street, Tel 046 622 3641
Cathedral
Visit the Cathedral of St Michael and St Geroge, with is belfry and spire - the tallest in South Africa - and spend a while listening to the bell ringing, magnificent organ or catch a lunchtime concert.
Camera Obscura.
Visit the Observatory Museum - Bathurst Street and view only Camera Obscura in Southern Africa 046 622 2312 The Observatory Museum houses the only camera obscura in the southern hemisphere.
Church Square
Take a walk down High Street to Church Square with its Victorian facades.
Churches
City of Saints, Sinners, and students. Visit one of the many - at least 52 including, school chapels, tabernacles and township sects.
CITY HALL AND SETTLER MEMORIAL TOWER
in High Street bears the simple marble table commemorating the heroic 600-mile (960km) ride of Dick King from Port Natal to Grahamstown, 24 May to 4 June 1842, which led to the relief of the besieged British garrison at the Old Fort in Durban. The Tower was built to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the British Settlers' arrival in 1820. The City Hall was publicly opened on 24 May 1882.
Coelacanth
http://www.saiab.ru.ac.za/
The Coelacanth Saga is retold in the display area of the JLB Smith Institute in Somerset Street. See one at The SA Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (JLB Smith Institute), Somerset Street, 046 636 1002
COMMEMORATION CHURCH
in High Street whose foundation stone was laid on 10 April 1845 - "this being the anniversary of the arrival of the 1st Party of British Settlers". The Church can seat 1 200 people, has ten stained glass memorial windows and possesses one of the finest organs in the country.
Dinosaurs
See Coelacanth. See Natural Sciences Museum
Dog Shows
Info: Contact Ms Dalton: (046) 622 3050
The Drostdy Arch.
This arch at the entrance to the military grounds was designed by Major Selwyn and built by the Royal Engineers in 1842. Today this National Monument serves as the pedestrian entrance to Rhodes University and also houses a craft and gift shop.
Eastern Star Gallery
4 Anglo-African Street. 046 622 7095
EGAZINI ARTS & CRAFTS
http://www.grahamstown.co.za/egazini.htm
Egazini Outreach Project, Makana’s kop Multipurpose Centre, Old Internal Stability Unit Building, Extension 6, Joza, Grahamstown, Tel/fax: 046 637 1500
Egazini Memorial
Visit the Egazini Memorial one of the first township based heritage sites in South Africa. The Memorial marks the event of the Battle of Grahamstown which took place in 1819.
Festivals. National Arts Festival.
http://www.nafest.co.za
The National Arts Festival is one of the most important event on the South African cultural calendar, and the biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent. Starting at the end of June/beginning of July, it runs for between 8 and 10 days and is held in the small university city of Grahamstown, which is situated in the Eastern Cape, 130km from Port Elizabeth.
First Aid
St Johns Ambulance Foundation. 24 Hill Street, Tel: 046 6361650
Fort Selwyn, Gunfire Hill
Used as a lookout point for the garrison in early Grahamstown years. A record was set for .......semaphore.... The cannon has never been fired in anger - but was used a a warning signal and was fired every morning by the Royal Artillery to alert citizens of the time read from a sundial within the Fort.
Game drives
http://www.grahamstown.co.za/accomodation_game_farms.asp
Go for a day drive to experience the Big Five in our area. Contact Makana Tourism for further information.
Golf
http://www.grahamstown.co.za/golf/index.html
The Grahamstown Golf Club was founded in 1891.
Grahamstown Riding Club
Contact Christine Fiege. Cell: 072 617 9032
Grocott & Sherry
http://www.grocotts.co.za/
Visit "Grocott & Sherry", where Grocott’s Mail, South Africa’s oldest independent newspaper, was founded. Investigate the original "Star Newspaper" printing press. Coffee or breakfast and enjoy your paper at one of our many coffee shops and café’s.
Herbarium.
http://www.ru.ac.za/library/departmental/botany-herbarium.html
Selmar Schonland Herbarium, a pressed plant library. Contact Information. Mr Tony Dold. Herbarium Curator. 046-622 2638.
Hike
Two-day through Oldenburgia - contact Thomas Baines Nature Reserve 046 603 6072
History
http://www.alanweyerstours.co.za/
This is a story that must be heard of frontier wars, pioneering spirits and heroic people bound together by indomitable determination and gritty humour. Recapture the Spirits of the Past renowned historian and raconteur Alan Weyer whose captivating narrative of this region’s proud history of spectacular battles and courageous people will add a new dimension to a visit to the Eastern Cape.
History Museum, Somerset Street.
http://www.ru.ac.za/affiliates/am/
The History Museum in Grahamstown reflects the early history of black and white settlers and provides a genealogical service to researchers all over the world.
International Library of African Music
http://ilam.ru.ac.za/
The International Library of African Music (ILAM) was founded by the late Hugh Tracey in 1954, after 25 years of recording African music, at Msaho, north of Roodepoort,near Johannesburg, on land belonging to the record company Gallo (Africa) Ltd. Prince Alfred Street.
Library
Grahamstown Public Library, 145 Hill street, Tel: 046 6036111. A converted steam roller mill. Dating back to the mid-19th century.
Makana Tourism
Tourism information on the town and region at the Tourism bureau on the Cathedral Square.
The Natural Science Museum, Somerset Street
A fascinating coverage of man and his environment, which includes a reconstruction of the first South African Dinosaur, an Egyptian Mummy, the Hall of Birds and Mammals and a Foucault's Pendulum. Hours : Tues-Fri 09h30-13h00, 14h00-17h00, Sat 09h00-13h00.
National English Literary Museum & Bookshop
http://www.ru.ac.za/affiliates/nelm/nelmhome.html
87 Beaufort Street, Tel: 046 6227042. MISSION The mission of the National English Literary Museum is to promote the reading and appreciation of all forms of imaginative South African literature in English.
Old Provost.
The Provost Prison derives its name from its association with the Provost Marshall, the officer responsible for the maintenance and order in military camps and the punishment and custody of deserters and other military offenders. In 1937 the Old Provost was declared a national monument and restored by the CapeProvincial Administration. Having been restored it was handed over to the Albany Museum in 1982.
Observatory Museum.
http://www.ru.ac.za/affiliates/am
The Observatory is a unique multi-storeyed 19th century Victorian shop and home which is now a museum. This house had a place in the identification of the first diamond that was found in South Africa, and a display on the ground floor tells this story. Its connection with the identification of the Eureka in 1867 prompted De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. to purchase and restore the Observatory in 1980-82 to commemorate the beginning of the diamond industry in South Africa.
Rhodes University.
http://www.ru.ac.za
Where Leaders Learn.
SA Library for the Blind.
High Street. Tel 046 622 7226. The audio and braille services it provides for the sight-impaired are many and varied.
Schools Festival
http://www.foundation.org.za/projects/schoolsFestivals/index.php
SCIFEST
http://www.scifest.org.za/
The first of its kind in Southern Africa, Sasol SciFest is South Africa's annual national science festival held March in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Sasol SciFest features over 600 events including popular lectures, game drives, a laser show, workshops, Sunset Shows, robotics competitions, Science Olympics, school quizzes, interactive exhibitions, the PlayFair, field trips, 'Talkshops', and even a FilmFest. Attendance now exceeds 40 000 visitors.
Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa
ISEA Rhodes University, PO Box 94 Grahamstown, 6140
Skydiving
The Eastern Province Skydivers Club offers training and tandem jumps, contact Tel: 046 636 2486
Tennis
Grahamstown Tennis Club
The SA Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (JLB Smith Institute)
Somerset Street, 046 636 1002
Thomas Baines Nature Reserve
Tours
http://www.grahamstown.co.za/tours_and_transport.asp
Contact our local Tourism office for further details on tours and activities available.
Township Tours
Contact: Mbuleli 082 979 5906. SATOUR accredited.
UMTHATHI TOWNSHIP TOUR
Including a traditional Xhosa meal at Umthathi Garden Project in Rhini Township. Umthathi Training Project, Spoornet Station Building, High Street. Booking is essential : Fiona : cell : 082-7841458
Under the Arch
Craft shop, Drosdty Arch, top of High Street.
Wagon Stones
Mini monuments to a bygone era. See them in Grahamstown.
Walking Tours
http://www.grahamstown.co.za/tours_and_transport.asp
Contact Makana Tourism. High Street for further information.
Walk down High Street
to Church Square with its Victorian facades.
Witchdoctors
Visit the traditional healers shop @ Crafters Court, Bathurst Street.
WINGED FIGURE OF PEACE
graces a monument to "the Men of Albany" who lost their lives in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. The sculpture is by Stanley Nicholson Babb and Rudyard Kipling specially wrote the inscription. The site was chosen as one which was "in the midst of our daily work and so would serve as perpetual remembrance of the dead and be an inspiration for peace". On the island in @ the Top of Bathurst and High Street.
Worship
http://www.i2ko.com/Church/e_cape/Eastern_Cape_Churches.html
List of Churches in Grahamstown
Zoology & Entomology
http://www.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/zooento/
Study it @ Rhodes University.
