Bergville

The name 'Bergville' means 'Mountain Village'. The word 'berg' is Afrikaans for mountain.

Attractions

Also see the neighbouring towns

Bergville (population 800, but 70'000 in the greater Bergville area) is in the foothills of the northern parts of the Kwazulu-Natal Drakensberg mountain range, on the banks of the Tugela (or Thukela) River. It is on the R74 between Winterton and Harrismith, and the R616 to Ladismith.

Several popular Drakensberg peaks are near Bergville, such as Cathedral Peak and Champagne Castle. The Royal Natal National Park is west of Bergville.

Drakensberg / uKhahlamba Park

The Drakensberg / uKhahlamba Park is a World Heritage Site to the south of Bergville.

Royal Natal National Park

The Royal National Park is about 40Km west of Bergville.

Spioenkop Dam Nature Reserve

The Spioenkop Dam and Spioenkop Dam Nature Reserve are to the east of the village.

Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve

The Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve is northwest of Bergville.

Woodstock Dam

The Woodstock Dam, quite a bit larger than the Spioenkop Dam, lies to the west of Bergville.

Cannibal Cavern

Cannibal Cavern is named after events that took place during the reign of the Zulu King Shaka in the 1820s. When some small clans under Sidinane fled from Shaka, they hid in the caves, but were forced to cannibalism to survive.

Mgoduyanuka

Mgoduyanuka, National Monument, was occupied by the Zizi people until the Mfecane of the 1820s. Mgoduyanuka is located on the farm Zuur Lager 1040, at the foot of Mgodanyuka Hill which overlooks the Thukela river.

Voortrekker Pass

Voortrekker Pass is east of the Sterkfontein Dam, off the R74. There is a small monument to the Kaalvoet Vrou (Barefoot woman), in honour of Susanna Smit, sister of Gert Maritz, who declared she would rather cross the Drakensberg barefoot than to live under British rule in Natal.

Photos courtesy of Esmé Hitchcock.

Retief's Pass

In 1837 Piet Retief's party of Voortrekkers crossed the Drakensberg west of the present Bergville, near the Sterkfontein Dam. This location is known as Retief's Pass, and a National Monument.

Retiefklip

In 1837 Deborah Retief, daughter of the Voortrekker Piet Retief, painted her father's name on a rock on his birthday. This rock is known as Retiefklip (Retief's Rock), and can be seen east of Sterkfontein Dam.

Photos courtesy of Esmé Hitchcock.

Upper Thukela Blockhouse

During the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) British forces erected a blockhouse, which can be seen in Bergville. It is a National Monument.

Drakensberg Boys Choir School

The Drakensberg Boys Choir School is located in the Champagne Valley. The choir is similar to the Vienna Boys Choir, and has toured the world. Regular concerts are held at the school.

Things to do

Trout fishing in the rivers around Bergville.

Hiking, horse riding, falconry, rafting, quadbiking, golf, bowling.

History

The Ngwaneni tribe settled in this area before the European colonisers moved in. A retired sea captain with the name Wales owned the farm, Kleine Waterval, on which the town was built. In 1897 a cluster of trading stations were erected on this location.

During the Anglo-Boer War the British built a blockhouse near the town. The name Bergville was given to this spot in 1903. Bergville became a municipality in 1962.

Battle Spioenkop

Spioenkop (1466m) is about 15Km east of Bergville.

The Battle of Spioenkop took place on 23 January 1900. The Boers (Pretoria and Carolina Commandos) under General Schalk Willem Burger, were settled on Spioenkop when 1700 British soldiers under General Sir Charles Warren climbed the peak under cover of darkness and light rain. They surprised the Boers, who all but one, were able to escape. The British soldiers dug in on the peak, but when the sun eventually rose, discovered to their horror that the surrounding peaks (such as Tabanyama) were higher, and they were exposed to Boer fire on three sides. British forces nevertheless pushed ahead, but recieved an instruction to withdraw, while the Boer forces, under the impression that they lost the battled, fled down the other sides of the peaks. When some Boers climbed back up to rescue their comrades, to their astonishment they found the British gone.

About 243 to 600 Brisith soldiers died during the battle - depending on different sources. The Boers lost 68 men and 335 casualties.

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