HIMEVILLE FORT & MUSEUM
The museum, located on the main road through Himeville, is open Tuesday to Saturday
9.00 to 3.00. Sunday 9.00 to 12.30. Closed on Mondays and Christmas Day. Admission
is free, but any donations (which will go towards maintaining the standard of the
museum) are greatly appreciated. Talks can be arranged for groups and schools through
the Curator.
Contact Tel no: 033 -
Email: himevillemuseum@telkomsa.net
Originally built as a fortified laager, the “Old Fort” in Himeville (the last of
its type to be constructed in South Africa) was completed in 1900. In 1902 it was
taken over by the Natal Mounted Police and was used as a prison until its closure
in 1972. Subsequently, through the efforts of local residents and the local Historical
Society, who took over the buildings in 1976, it became a museum, which was opened
to the public in 1981.
Said to be one of the best rural museums in South Africa,
the museum comprises a large complex (warders’ house, cells, the armoury (originally
the only building within the laager walls), workshops and parade ground, and a few
additional buildings erected to house some of the exhibits).
The warders’ house,
furnished much in the style of 1900, comprises a typical living/dining room, kitchen,
bedroom and nursery. Wildlife exhibits; local pioneering records and photographs;
typical examples of a Post Office/telephone exchange and a schoolroom; rock art and
other items associated with the Bushmen of the area; and bead work and other artefacts
of the local AmaBhaca community are on display in some of the old cells. A variety
of exhibits is housed in the old armoury, while a modern addition houses a number
of farming and dairy implements, and a display of relics from the Boer and the two
World Wars. Around the parade ground are displayed several agricultural implements;
carts and wagons; a blacksmith’s forge and workshop.
