By Roxanne Reid
Take a walk back in time to this Moravian mission village of thatched houses in South Africa’s Overberg. Founded in the early 1800s, it’s no tourist hub – and all the more appealing for that. Read on to discover its appeal and some things to do in Elim, Western Cape.
Take a walk back in time to this Moravian mission village of thatched houses in South Africa’s Overberg. Founded in the early 1800s, it’s no tourist hub – and all the more appealing for that. Read on to discover its appeal and some things to do in Elim, Western Cape.
You’ll find Elim about halfway between Gansbaai and Bredasdorp in South Africa’s Western Cape.
Even when it’s blazing hot outside, it’s cool and serene inside the thatch-roofed, gabled Elim church. All is white and sparse inside, plain and pure, as worshippers’ souls should be. Even the pews are simple wooden planks, painted white. When we first visited some years back, the now-late organist Andreé Joorst told us that backs were only added to the benches in 1935. ‘In the old days you couldn’t fall asleep in church but now you can,’ she laughed. Although the old people still stick to the division between sexes – there’s a wooden partition for that purpose – sometimes the younger generation is a bit more flexible.
Turn your back to the lectern and your gaze falls on a splendid honey-coloured organ on a raised balcony. Brought from Germany – the last part of its journey by jolting ox-wagon – it’s where Andreé used to love being on Sundays when the church is a hive of activity. After service and communion, the mostly middle-aged and elderly people stumble into the sunshine, women wearing black dresses and soft white headscarves, the men stiffly sweating into their suits.
The interior of Elim church
German missionaries founded the mission station at Elim in 1824 to provide a home for freed slaves and indigenous Khoi people they planned to convert. Today, it seems to have fallen through a time warp that’s curiously appealing to anyone who loves history and wants a window into an earlier era. The story goes that the palm trees reminded the missionaries of the biblical Elim, a place of 70 palms and 12 fountains where the Israelites camped after their exodus from Egypt. Today there are still 60 palms and nearly 200 fountains.
Some 7 000 hectares of land around Elim are still privately owned by the church, and a democratically elected body called the Overseers Council controls all aspects of village life.
Thatched houses line the main drag up to the church, most well cared for, others sadly neglected, reflecting the owners’ lack of a fix-it budget. The oldest are built of mud-brick, with lime plaster made of seashells and thatched with restio grass harvested from the surrounding fynbos. Elimers are still renowned as far afield as Dubai and Spain for their thatching skill.
Some 7 000 hectares of land around Elim are still privately owned by the church, and a democratically elected body called the Overseers Council controls all aspects of village life.
Thatched houses line the main drag up to the church, most well cared for, others sadly neglected, reflecting the owners’ lack of a fix-it budget. The oldest are built of mud-brick, with lime plaster made of seashells and thatched with restio grass harvested from the surrounding fynbos. Elimers are still renowned as far afield as Dubai and Spain for their thatching skill.
The main road is lined with attractive thatch-roofed houses
Some houses have simple wooden benches beside the front door. On one an old man might be dozing, his hat covering his face as the morning sun licks the shadows at his feet. It’s also the best place to sit in the cool of the evening, another local resident told us. Her two-roomed house, passed down from her parents, was awash in colourful knick-knacks.
An old woman threw open her window to shout greetings to a friend across the street; another was sweeping her stoep, but took time to smile and wave at us. We stopped to admire sweet peas in a garden and got chatting to the gardener, who told us that brides sometimes visit to have their wedding photos taken.
An old woman threw open her window to shout greetings to a friend across the street; another was sweeping her stoep, but took time to smile and wave at us. We stopped to admire sweet peas in a garden and got chatting to the gardener, who told us that brides sometimes visit to have their wedding photos taken.
Elim church
There are two guesthouses near the church, where you can soak up the early morning sun or take in the stars from the kerkwerf (church precinct) at night. Like many buildings here, they’re ‘grey-washed’ as they used to be in the old days – probably because whitewash was too dazzling in the bright sun.
Perched in the dust outside one of the guesthouses, a workers’ bell hangs between wooden posts that are peeling green paint. It used to ring at lunchtime so people working their plots of land would know it was time to take a well-deserved rest. A more stately church bell chimes people into service and doubles as a disaster warning system. If someone disappears or there’s a fire, the bell tolls and news of the disaster quickly spreads across the village.
Perched in the dust outside one of the guesthouses, a workers’ bell hangs between wooden posts that are peeling green paint. It used to ring at lunchtime so people working their plots of land would know it was time to take a well-deserved rest. A more stately church bell chimes people into service and doubles as a disaster warning system. If someone disappears or there’s a fire, the bell tolls and news of the disaster quickly spreads across the village.
One of Elim's guesthouses with the workers' bell in front
Talk to the locals and you’ll learn that Elimers who leave to find work in Cape Town (about a two-and-a-half-hour drive away) usually return for holidays and celebrations, keeping the fabric of the community intact. The day-to-day population is around 1 400, but if everyone comes home for the holidays it’s more like double that.
Easter is a big event, and so is a flower festival in September. During our visit, we popped in at the tiny bakery to buy a hot loaf of sweet-smelling bread. Then we went back past the old thatched houses, watched by a patch of sunflowers turning towards the sun and a trio of grinning children – out of the time warp, back to the screech of modern life.
Things to do in Elim
Don’t miss these things to do in Elim and the surrounding area.
1. See the thatch-roofed church with its clock tower and bell. The clock is the oldest still working church clock in the country. If you visit on a Sunday, you’re welcome to attend a service.
Easter is a big event, and so is a flower festival in September. During our visit, we popped in at the tiny bakery to buy a hot loaf of sweet-smelling bread. Then we went back past the old thatched houses, watched by a patch of sunflowers turning towards the sun and a trio of grinning children – out of the time warp, back to the screech of modern life.
Things to do in Elim
Don’t miss these things to do in Elim and the surrounding area.
1. See the thatch-roofed church with its clock tower and bell. The clock is the oldest still working church clock in the country. If you visit on a Sunday, you’re welcome to attend a service.
Elim heritage centre
2. Visit the info office and heritage centre in a long thatched building that used to be the mission store at the far end of the church precinct. Today in the care of Amanda Cloete, it’s a heritage centre and museum of the community’s way of life and people. It houses some old furniture and farm implements, but a wealth of photos dominates the cavernous space – people fording streams with ox-wagons in the old days, smart 1950s-style weddings, all puffed hair and dresses with nipped-in waists. Stop and read the info panels to learn about Elim’s history, its architecture and its people.
The old water mill
Duck under a stone arch to see the water wheel at the back of the building
3. Walk around the old water mill built in 1828 to see how it works. It was declared a national monument in 1974, restored and reopened in 1990. It has the largest wooden wheel of any mill in the country.
Delicious melktert at the tea garden in the water mill
4. Pop in to the small tea room that operates from the watermill to enjoy a slice of Emmerentia’s melktert (milk tart) still warm and wobbly from the oven.
The Elim slave monument in front of the building that was the first school in the village
5. See South Africa’s only monument commemorating the emancipation of slaves in 1834. You’ll find it diagonally opposite the church, outside the long pink building that was the first school. Back then slave owners were more bothered about losing their source of labour than the rights of their slaves, so a condition of release was that slaves should be ‘indentured’ for another four years. That’s why the monument bears the date 1838, the date of their true freedom.
The 'newer' of Elim's two cemeteries
6. Visit the two cemeteries in Elim. There’s an old one behind the water mill where some of the original founders of the village are buried. A more recent one among trees above the village is still in use, although it also has some graves that go back to the early 1800s.
7. Stroll the main street to admire the old cottages, perhaps stopping here and there to chat to the friendly locals. Remember to be respectful: this is still a working mission village and their home, not a tourist adventure park.
7. Stroll the main street to admire the old cottages, perhaps stopping here and there to chat to the friendly locals. Remember to be respectful: this is still a working mission village and their home, not a tourist adventure park.
Black Oystercatcher wine tasting area and restaurant
8. Enjoy some wine tasting along the Cape Agulhas Wine Route. Try The Berrio or Black Oystercatcher on the R43 between Elim and Bredasdorp, or Strandveld Vineyards on the R317. There is also canoeing and mountain biking at Zoetendal.
9. If you feel like a wonderfully lazy lunch, try the restaurant at Black Oystercatcher.
9. If you feel like a wonderfully lazy lunch, try the restaurant at Black Oystercatcher.
Beer tasting
10. Go beer tasting at Black Oystercatcher to try their Fraser’s Folly brews made on site. There’s a hoppy lager and pale ale, a stout called Moer Koffie and a brandy-finished ale with a 13.5% alcohol kick.
11. Explore the area or the Geelkop Nature Reserve to see the local fynbos species, especially prolific in spring. Elim is well known for its everlastings (which used to be dried for pillow and mattress stuffing in the old days) and for its fynbos flower exports.
11. Explore the area or the Geelkop Nature Reserve to see the local fynbos species, especially prolific in spring. Elim is well known for its everlastings (which used to be dried for pillow and mattress stuffing in the old days) and for its fynbos flower exports.
Self-catering cottages at Black Oystercatcher
12. Stay over for a couple of days in the area. For your Elim accommodation, choose between two guesthouses in the village (one in the old parsonage opposite the church). To book at one of these, phone Joyce October, 071 567-8737 or 074 557-7424. If you can’t get hold of her, try the tourism info office on (028) 482-1008. If you’d prefer to stay in the countryside just outside the village, there are self-catering cottages on the wine farm of Black Oystercatcher (about 10km from Elim).
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