Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch
has a atmosphere, architecture and general appearance which all
contribute to a unique charm. Essentially an academic and farming
center, it is largely free of the relentless pressures of industry and
excessive population growth.
Here,
man has a change to live in a more relaxed atmosphere, to take stock of
the good things around him, conserve and beautify, and learn that it is
more pleasant by far to live in the shade of a tree rather than that of
a lamp-post
The birth of Stellenbosch
It all started
in 1679. On 3 November of that year Simon van der Stel , the newly
appointed Commander and future governor of the Cape for the Dutch East
India Company, set out with an escort of soldiers on a journey to
explore the countryside immediately eastwards of Cape Town.
For
five days Van der Stel and his party explored the wild garden.
Following the Eerste River with its amber-coloured water up towards its
source in the bosom of the mountains.
They reached, on the afternoon of 6 November, a place which captivated Van der Stel completely.
It was there that the river for a part of its course divided into two branches. Between the branches an island had been formed.
Van der Stel and his party camped beneath shady trees on the island. It was named Van der Stel se Bosch ( Van der Stel’s Wood ).
Before the end of that year the first settler had made a home in the area.
By the summer of 1681 the settlement Stellenbosch was flourishing.
Van der Stel
He
was always a great man for trees, especially oaks. He ordered that oaks
be planted along the sides of each street, watered by furrows fed from
the river, with water rights to all gardens.
The presence of the river with its ample water was a great benefaction to the growth of a town.
The
trees were a legacy from Van der Stel of incalculable value, not only
beautiful, but shading the streets, purifying the air, deadening the
sounds of ever-increasing traffic, providing leaves for compost,timber
for all manner of uses from firewood to furniture.
