History of Somerset West

Somerset West was founded in 1822 on part of the historic farm, Vergelegen, which consists of a large estate and an 18th century farmhouse which was built in the historic Cape Dutch style by Willem Adriaan van der Stel.

The town was named Somerset after an English governor of the Cape Colony during the 1800s, Lord Charles Henry Somerset, with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it from Somerset East.

Lourens River Bridge - The old bridge over the Lourens River built in 1845, is the the second oldest surviving bridge in the country.

In the 1830s, Sir Lowry's Pass, named after later governor Sir Lowry Cole, was constructed to link the town with outposts further east over the Hottentots-Holland mountains.

At the start of the Great Trek in 1835 when migrants decided to leave the Cape Colony as it was then known, the first mountain range they crossed was Hottentots Holland. Cuts and wheel markings from their ox wagons can still be seen in rock formations in the vicinity of Sir Lowry's Pass on this mountain range.

The old NG Church around which the village originated in 1819.

Die Ou Pastorie, dating back to 1819, is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Somerset West. Both the original building and erf were declared a National Monument in 1986.