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Province: Kwazulu Natal
Region: Midlands
Town - Ixopo
Ixopo
Surveyed in 1878 and called Stuartstown, the Zulu name prevailed...thanks to its perfect example of onomatopoeia - the sound of cattle squelching through the mud - provided, of course, you pronounce it with the correct 'click'! This implied dampness refers in the main to often misty altitudes of almost 2 000m above sea level. Two 19th century churches and a seminary are still operational...while two other landmarks further enhance the area's spiritual tradition and reputation - a floodlit cross bestowing peace and goodwill on the town and, at the nearby Buddhist Retreat Centre, a tall reliquary radiating wisdom and compassion to the valleys below.
Ixopo
Architectural Features
Ixopo Prison
Central Ixopo
The prison was completed in 1900, utilizing a section of the Old Fort which was built in 1880 using locally quarried shale. It was used as a fort in 1906 when residents came into laager during the Bambatha Rebellion.
Telephone: 039 8342074
Artifacts
Sundial
Grounds of the Magistrate's Court, Ixopo.
The old sundial can be found in the gardens of the magistrates office. It was erected by friends in the district in memory of Martinus Stuart.
Telephone: 039 8341168
Buildings
Agricultural Hall
Centre of Ixopo
The old hall is a national monument and is now used as a bank.
Telephone: 039 834 1451
Border Mounted Rifles Hall
Ixopo
The hall was erected in 1908 by the residents of Ixopo as a memorial to the men of the Border Mounted Rifles who had lost their lives in The Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902.
Old Plough Hotel
Ixopo
This hotel is built in an imposing mock Tudor style. It was rebuilt after being destroyed by fire in June 1945.
Telephone: 039 8342080
Mission
Mariathal Mission, Ixopo area
A few kilometres north of Ixopo.
The mission was founded in 1887. It was the first seminary in Natal for Catholic priests who had studied overseas.
Monuments
Cecil John Rhodes Memorial
Lions Kloof, 12 kms down-river from the Mkomazi Bridge (PMB/Ixopo Road).
This monument is located to the east of the main road between Ixopo and Richmond, on the south bank of the Umkomaas River. Rhodes and his brother briefly farmed cotton in the Mkomazi Valley in 1870, before going on to the diamond fields.
Telephone: 039 8341451
Retreat
Buddhist Retreat Centre
About 8 kms north of Ixopo.
This centre for buddhist studies is situated on a 125ha estate at the head of a valley a few kilometres north of Ixopo. The centre is a tranquil and semi monastic environment for private retreats and group workshops in buddhist meditation, philosophy, psychology and allied disciplines.
Telephone: 039 8341863
Sites
Dead Mens' Tree
Outside the old post office building. This old cypress tree used to have all the death and funeral notices nailed to the trunk.
Lion's Kloof
At Lion's Kloof, 10 kms downriver from the Umkomaas River bridge.
The late Hon. Cecil John Rhodes farmed cotton here in 1868, on the alluvial flats of the Umkomaas Valley below Spitskop. He later went to the Kimberley diamond fields with his brother Hubert. Only then did he begin to amass a fortune.
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