Nieuwoudtville

Nieuwoudtville is named after the Nieuwoudt brothers on whose farm the town is built

Attractions

Also see the neighbouring towns

After good rains the veld around Nieuwoudtville is spectacular during the months of August and September.

Nieuwoudtville Wild Flower Reserve (115Ha) has more than 300 species of indigenous flora. The Red Cats Tail (Bulbanella sp) is unique to this area.

Kokerbome
Photo: courtesy www.culturalguiding.com

Nieuwoudtville Falls (100m high) is in the Doring River 7Km north of town, with a picnic spot and camping site.

A preserved Glacier Site can be seen 6Km south of town.

Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve conserves fynbos. There is a hiking trail in the Reserve.

San art can be viewed at Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve and on farms in the area.

Many sandstone buildings stand in the town.

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History

Khoisan people inhabited the area prior to the arrival of European settlers around 1730. At that time game was plentiful. The Karoo plain is known as the Bokkeveld, which means buck field. The settlers settled near the modern town at Groenrivier and Willemsrivier.

Nieuwoudtville was established in 1897 on the farm of HC Nieuwoudt.

Nature

Nieuwoudtville lies within the Great Karoo (Nama Karoo) ecoregion (WWF AT1314) and in the higher areas Fynbos in mountains (WFF AT1203), particulalry Renosterveld.

More than 300 of the roughly 1550 species of geophyte occur in the area around Nieuwoudtville. These spring to life around August-September after good rains. Geophytes are bulbs, corms, rhizomes, or tubers that can remain underground for lengthy periods, even trhough droughts, and then spring to surface after rains.

The Red Cats Tail (Bulbanella sp) is unique to this area.

The rich flora attracts a rich insect life. There are 63 ant species and almost 200 species of bees and wasps in the area.

Reptiles: 44 species: 4 tortoises, 24 lizards, 16 snakes.

There are about 200 species of bird, such as Blue Crane, Black Harrier, Lesser Kestrel, Ludwig's Bustard, Black Korhaan, Martial Eagle, Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Francolin.

Mammals: aardvark, mongoose, striped polecat, porcupines, common molerats, footed gerbils, klipspringer, steenbok, baboon, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal, Cape fox, caracal, Cape clawless otter. In the mountains there are still leopards.

To the east of Nieuwoudtville lies a series of dolerite hills, which is a dark igneous rock typically occurring in dykes and sills. These hills resulted from prehistoric lava flows that formed columns of rock. Erosion through many millions of years ate away a lot, leaving curious columns of rock that balance on top of one another.

Just south of the town marks left by glaciers 300 million years ago can be viewed.

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Economy

Farming: Sheep, wheat, rooibos tea

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