GENERAL
The Graaff-Reinet Museum, governed by a Board of Trustees and subsidized by Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture of the Eastern Cape, was established in 1956.
Four old buildings, built in the first part of the 1800s, house a vast collection of Graaff-Reinet’s rich cultural and natural heritage, which includes about 350 volumes of historical newspapers, about 4000 examples of historical clothing, a fossil and rock art collection, period furniture and contemporary history exhibitions. The buildings are unique cultural gems and an integral part of the town, making Graaff-Reinet one of the most historically significant sites in the country.
The Military History Museum, the most recent addition to the museum complex, was established in 2005. It provides an overview of the military history of Graaff-Reinet and also houses an archival repository. The archival repository contains documents and artifacts which are of great significance. It serves a wide geographical area and is of national importance as indicated in the National Handbook of Archival Repositories.
The Graaff-Reinet Museum is the fifth largest Province-aided museum in the Eastern Cape with a floor space of almost 4000 m². It is a major tourist attraction within the Camdeboo area and one of the most important international tourist attractions within a 203km radius from Port Elizabeth.
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Graaff-Reinet Museum is to conserve, reflect and display the rich cultural and natural history and heritage of the Camdeboo area, for the education, recreation and upliftment of the community and visitors whom we serve.
OUR VISION
Our vision is to be an institution synonymous with, not only conservation and restoration, but also with exhibiting the history and heritage of all the people in the Camdeboo area.
REINET HOUSE
The Graaff-Reinet Museum or “Reinet House”, formerly a Dutch Reformed Church parsonage, was built at the expense of the Government in 1812 during the ministry of the Rev. Kicherer. It was the home of three ministers prior to 1822, the year in which the Rev. Andrew Murray, from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, became the resident minister. After his death in 1866 the parsonage was occupied by his son Charles until his death in 1904. By 1906 the building was being used as a boarding establishment for girls wishing to train as teachers, and it was then that the late Miss Helen Murray, a sister of Rev. Charles Murray, and for many years principal of the Midland Seminary, named the house “Reinet House”.
Later it was used as a residence for Training College students. In 1944 the building became unoccupied, and started falling into despair. In 1947 it was bought by the Graaff-Reinet Publicity Association from the D. R. Church for R 4 000. Restoration work, supervised by well-known Pretoria architect, Mr Norman Eaton, A.R.B.A., M.I.A., was started in 1952 and continued for four years. In 1956 the Governor General, the Right Hon. E. G. Jansen, officially opened the Graaff-Reinet Museum.
Reinet House, a fine example of a Cape H-plan house, may have been designed by Louis M. Thibault who designed the Drostdy at Graaff-Reinet. Much of the building material was acquired locally.
High up in the gable is an hourglass, with extended wings, reputed to have been placed there to remind even the most thoughtless that ‘Time flies’. On 1 May 1980 a fire destroyed the back portion of the building, but fortunately much of the contents were saved. With the aid of public donations and with professional guidance to ensure an authentic restoration, reconstruction of the building was undertaken so that it could once again house the fine collection of period furniture and relics of the past.
To demonstrate the distillation of Withond, a potent spirit for which Graaff-Reinet was famous in its earlier days, a brandy still was built in 1990. Originally Reinet House had an extensive garden, renowned for its choice fruits and grapes. One old vine remains, a Black Acorn planted in 1870 by the Rev. Charles Murray. The stem of this vine had attained a circumference of 3,10m by 1983, but fungal rot that had infested the stem necessitated the removal of all affected wood, leaving not one but a number of separate stems. A pictorial postmark, depicting the vine is in use for mail posted at the Museum.
It houses:-
• ONE OF THE LARGEST GRAPE VINES IN THE WORLD, PLANTED IN 1870
• THE LAUBSCHER DOLL COLLECTION
• A MILL HOUSE WITH WATER WHEEL
• PERIOD FURNITURE
• WITHOND DISTILLERY
• RYKIE PRETORIUS CLOTHING COLLECTION
THE OLD LIBRARY
While limited privately sponsored library facilities were available in Graaff-Reinet from about 1818, it was not until 1847 that the citizens of the town established a public library, subscribing funds to build the central portion of the present building in Church Street. The plot of ground was later donated by the Government. Although initially the lack of adequate funds retarded the growth of the library, it developed over the years into the town’s cultural centre. By 1878 the original building proved inadequate, necessitating the addition of the southern wing. In 1926 the northern wing was added on the site of the old branddam (a stone reservoir kept full of water for use in the event of fire).
This building served the town as its library until 1981 when a modern library was built in Parsonage Street. The municipality donated the old building to the Graaff-Reinet Museum which now uses it to house specialized collections. It was proclaimed a National Monument on 27 February 1987.
In 2005, with the assistance of the National Lottery Distribution fund, the Board of Trustees of the Museum developed the building to include conference facilities and exhibition areas to portray the history of the previously disadvantaged community of Graaff-Reinet.
It houses:-
• THE LEX BREMNER COLLECTION OF KAROO FOSSILS
• STONE-AGE ARTIFACTS & THE TOWNLEY JOHNSON ROCK ART COLLECTION
• THE MANGALISO ROBERT SOBUKWE PERMANENT EXHIBITION
• THE SLAVERY & THE LONG ROAD TO RESTITUTION EXHIBITION
• LUCAS BORMAN FURNITURE
• CONFERENCE FACILITY
URQUHART HOUSE
The large erf at the southern extremity of Market Square, on which Urquhart House stands today, was granted in freehold to Johan Hendrik Greyling on 1 January 1806, which places it amongst the earliest plots transferred into private ownership in Graaff-Reinet. Greyling sold the property to Jan Cornelis in 1821 for 36 000 Gilden, which seems to suggest that the house had already been erected on the plot. This assumption is substantiated by the contents of a letter written by Cornelis to the Governor of the Cape, Major General Richard Bourke, on 4 October 1827, pleading with him to expedite the winding up of his insolvent estate, in which he expressly mentions that Greyling sold him the erf and house in “an unlawful manner’. It can be assumed, therefore, that the house was built between 1806 and 1821.
The house, by virtue of its prominent position in the town and its lofty thatched roof and impressive front gable, must have been one of the outstanding buildings of the town. The front gable, an excellent example of a Cape neo-classical pilaster gable, was embellished with fine plaster ornamentation including an anchor and numerous floral stars. The reason for the incorporation of an anchor in the gable is unknown, but an anecdote records that “…the worthy builder of the house was in some way descended from the great Admiral van Tromp…and he placed his anchor in front of the house in honour of his ancestors.” Another noteworthy owner of the property was Charles James Spiller, an 1820 Settler and secretary of the local Midland Agency and Trust Company until his tragic murder in May 1866. After changing hands a number of times the house (with the erf) was purchased by a prominent businessman, David Sebastian Martin Casper Carel Schultz. It was during his period of ownership that the house accommodated Clegg’s Midland Hotel. An advertisement in a newspaper of the day proudly states: - “The table will always show a good spread, and everything done to a turn. The bar will contain liquors of the best brands. The smoke room will be cool and comfortable, where you can enjoy a glass, a cigar and read the news. Good stabling for 30 horses. Good groom, good beds. Politeness and civility in abundance, free of charge.”
Schultz was probably instrumental in “modernizing” the house towards the end of the nineteenth century. The gables were clipped, the former thatched roof was removed and replaced by a corrugated iron roof and a timber verandah was added, all to comply with the fashion of the time. Schultz’s deceased estate sub-divided the large erf in 1912, the portion with the house on it being bought by Herbert Urquhart M.B.E., a well-loved Graaff-Reinet businessman, and longest serving mayor in the history of the town, holding office for 21 consecutive years from 1915 to 1936. The municipality purchased the property from the Urquhart Estate in 1964. Having been the residence of Mr. Urquhart for over 50 years, the property has become known among the townsfolk as the “Urquhart House”, although Mr. Urquhart named it “Kensington” after his birthplace in London.
Today Urquhart House is a Victorian period museum. The outbuildings also houses a Merino sheep breeding exhibition and farm implements. Urquhart House boasts a peach pip floor and archival repository.
THE OLD RESIDENCY
The former Residency, situated diagonally opposite Reinet House at the end of Parsonage Street, and forming a unique architectural complex with it, is a well-preserved example of the early 19th Century Cape Dutch H-shaped house. It has a simple pedimented front gable, rather high-shouldered, with pilasters that continue downward, flanking the front door. The end-gable is of the “holbol” type with double steps at the base of the top segment. Above the front door is a very fine original fanlight. Formerly the dwelling had a thatched roof, which was replaced by iron when some alterations to the interior were affected.
The erf on which the house was built originally extended the length of the block to Middle Street. The land was granted by the Colonial Government to the first owner, Willem Janssens, on 30 December 1801. Within a few years it changed hands three times and was purchased by Johannes Gerber on 26 November 1819 for 9600 Gulden. It would appear that this owner built the dwelling, for when he sold the property to William Thomas Brown on 24 May 1831 the price was “£600 sterling plus 24000 Cape Guilders”. After 25 years he sold it to Arend Gysbert Liesching. Following his death in 1855 his widow subdivided the property and sold a portion to Charles Rubidge for £180. Less than three years later, on 1 February 1859, the same purchaser acquired another portion, presumably that on which the house was built, for £1200. It remained the Rubidge residence until the entire property was sold by his estate in 1913 to Dr John Liesching Rubidge. The Government of South Africa acquired it on 29 July 1916 for use as the residence of the Magistrate, which it remained until 1978 when it was taken into use as an annex to Reinet House. The building was declared a National Monument on 8 June 1962.
It now houses the :
• JAN FELIX LATEGAN COMMEMORATION COLLECTION
• HISTORICAL FIREARMS SAFE
• MUSIC ROOM
• HISTORY OF THE VAN RHYNEVELDS PASS (NGWEBA) DAM
• HARRIET RABONE DRAWING ROOM
• WILLIAM ROE PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION
• PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT
THE MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM
The Military History Museum is the most recent addition to the Graaff-Reinet Museum Complex and was established in 2005. The building was built along the lines of a stable situated on the same premises, to ensure that it is in keeping with the architectural style of the rest of the buildings of the museum complex.
The museum provides an overview of the military history of Graaff-Reinet from the 1800s until 30 June 2007. It focuses specifically on the Anglo Boer War, The First World War, The Second World War and Regiment Groot Karoo.
HISTORY
In 1946 it became known that the Church Council of the ‘Grootkerk’ had made an application to the municipality to convert Reinet House into flats. A section of the Graaff-Reinet community, led by Miss Isobel Lawrie became very perturbed resulting in Miss Lawrie seeking assistance to save Reinet House. Mr A A Kingwill together with members of the Publicity Association consulted with Rev Naudé regarding the sale of Reinet House and they settled upon an amount of £2000 with conditions of sale which included that Reinet House be used as a museum only.
Appeals for funds were sent far and wide and were met with generous responses from the local and distant Graaff-Reinetters, with all the Provinces subscribing. After securing Reinet House an adjoining plot was purchased.
By 1949 a Board of Trustees was appointed which included the mayor, the chairperson of the Publicity Association a member from the Church Council and A A Kingwill, who represented the subscribers.
Once again appeals went forth for funds to cover the restoration of Reinet House. The Provincial Administration provided the necessary financial assistance. By 1952 restoration work commenced. Mr Norman Eaton agreed to act as architect in an honorary capacity, which resulted in the old building being transposed to a true replica of the parsonage of 1812.
After restoration was completed Reinet House was proclaimed a National Museum by the Historic National Monuments Commission. On 21 September 1956 Reinet House was opened as a museum by the Governor-General Dr E G Jansen.
In 1978 The Old Residency, the former residence of the magistrate was acquired as an annex to Reinet House and in 1981 the Graaff-Reinet Municipality donated the Old Library to the Board of Trustees when a new public library was erected in Parsonage Street. In 1990 Urquhart House became the property of the Board of Trustees of the Graaff-Reinet Museum and in 2005 the Board of Trustees erected a building to house an extensive archival collection and function as conference facility. In 2006 this building was re-named the Military History Museum when a military history exhibition was erected on the ground floor of the building.
Today the Graaff-Reinet Museum is one of the sixteen Province-aided museums of the Eastern Cape with a floor space of almost 4000 m².
