About

Clanwilliam

Clanwilliam is a town in the Olifants River valley in the Western Cape, South Africa, about 200 kilometres north of Cape Town. It is located in, and the seat of, the Cederberg Local Municipality. As of 2011 Clanwilliam had a population of 7,674. In 1930, District Surgeon and botanist Dr Pieter Le Fras Nortier, a former Rhodes scholar, began conducting experiments with the cultivation of the rooibos plant. Dr Nortier also saw the vast commercial potential the tea held for the region. Dr Nortier cultivated the first plants at Clanwilliam on his farm Eastside and on the farm Klein Kliphuis.

Since 2001, Clanwilliam has been the site of the Clanwilliam Arts Festival, run by Cape Town-based Magnet Theatre. During the annual one-week arts festival, workshops in fine arts, dance, music, theatre, and performance are offered to children and youth from Clanwilliam. Clanwilliam is the birthplace of ZP Theart, former lead vocalist, and founding member of the British power metal band DragonForce, and lead vocalist of the American hard rock band, Skid Row.

John Cradock, the Governor of the Cape Colony (1811-1814), named the town after his father-in-law, The 1st Earl of Clanwilliam, an Anglo-Irish nobleman.

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