Malmesbury, Western Cape Province, South Africa

🇿🇦 Malmesbury is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, about 65 km north of Cape Town.

The town is the largest in the Swartland (‘black land’) which took its name from the Renosterbos ('rhino bush'), an indigenous plant that turns black in the warm, dry summers. The area is especially known for its grain and wine cultivation as well as sheep and poultry farming.

Malmesbury was named after Sir Lowry Cole's father-in-law, the Earl of Malmesbury. Settlers were encouraged to make their homes here because of a tepid sulphur chloride mineral spring that was renowned for curing rheumatism. The first farms were allocated in 1703. When the fifth Dutch Reformed congregation in the Cape was established here, it became known as Zwartlands-kerk (Swartland Church) but was renamed Malmesbury in 1829. The town acquired municipal status in 1860.

The town no longer attracts the ailing because this aspect was never developed by the local authority, and today a shopping centre is located on top of the site with only a decorative fountain marking the location of the original spring.

Demographics In 1911 the Encyclopædia Britannica recorded the population of the town at 3,811, however this may refer to a white population, as a census of 1849 recorded a total of 8,520 residents. The 1939 edition of the official statistical Year Book of South Africa records a total population of 4,856, with roughly half the population recorded as white (2,574) and half recorded as coloured (2,221).

The following statistics describing Malmesbury are from the 2011 census. • Area: 18.8 square km (7.3 sq mi) • Population: 35,897: 1,909.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,945/sq mi) • Households: 9,473: 503.9 per square kilometre (1,305/sq mi)

Transport: Rail Malmesbury lies on the main railway line between Kraaifontein and Bitterfontein, and its railway station marks the northern end of Metrorail Western Cape's commuter rail network. Metrorail currently operates services to Cape Town via Kalbaskraal, Klipheuwel, Fisantekraal and Kraaifontein where the Malmesbury line joins the main Northern Line to Cape Town.

Transport: Road Malmesbury lies along the N7 highway “Cape Namibia Route” which bypasses the town centre to the west and leads north towards Moorreesburg, Piketberg, Springbok and Namibia and south towards Cape Town. The N7 intersects the R315 Bokomo Street, west of the town centre and the R45 interchange, north-west of the town centre.

Malmesbury is also has at the centre of three regional routes including the R45 which passes through the town as “Voortrekker Road", “Loedolf Street” and “Piet Retief Street” from Paarl (south-east) to Vredenburg (north-west), the R302 which passes through the town as “Voortrekker Road” from Durbanville (south), and the R315 which passes through the town as “Bokomo Street” from Darling (north-west). Voortrekker Road, designated as the R45 and R302 serves as Malmesbury's main street through the town.

Sport Mother City SkyDiving operates out of a private airfield 12 km to the north of Malmesbury and provides a service for experienced sport skydivers, and offers Tandem Introductory Skydiving.

Malmesbury has a variety of Sports Facilities including a Golf, Rugby & Bowling Club. The international organisation Parkrun hosts a regular 5 km run for anyone to join for free.