Kestell
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Kestell
| image_skyline = Kestell, oosaansig, a.jpg
| pushpin_map = South Africa Free State#South Africa
| coordinates = {{coord|28|19|S|28|42|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = South Africa
| subdivision_type1 = Province
| subdivision_name1 = Free State
| subdivision_type2 = District
| subdivision_name2 = Thabo Mofutsanyana
| subdivision_type3 = Municipality
| subdivision_name3 = Maluti a Phofung
| subdivision_type4 = Main Place
| established_title = Established
| leader_title = Councillor
| area_footnotes = Sum of the Main Places [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/472005 Kestell] and [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/472006 Tlholong] from Census 2011.
| area_total_km2 = 12.6
| elevation_m = 1700
| population_total = 8269
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_density_km2 = auto
| demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011)
| demographics1_title1 = Black African
| demographics1_info1 = 92.8%
| demographics1_title2 = Coloured
| demographics1_info2 = 0.3%
| demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian
| demographics1_info3 = 0.4%
| demographics1_title4 = White
| demographics1_info4 = 6.4%
| demographics1_title5 = Other
| demographics1_info5 = 0.1%
| demographics_type2 = First languages (2011)
| demographics2_title1 = Sotho
| demographics2_info1 = 80.5%
| demographics2_title2 = Zulu
| demographics2_info2 = 7.5%
| demographics2_title3 = Afrikaans
| demographics2_info3 = 6.8%
| demographics2_title4 = English
| demographics2_info4 = 2.5%
| demographics2_title5 = Other
| demographics2_info5 = 2.6%
| timezone1 = SAST
| utc_offset1 = +2
| postal_code_type = Postal code (street)
| postal_code =
| postal2_code_type = PO box
| postal2_code =
| area_code_type = Area code
| area_code = 058
}}
Kestell is a small maize farming town in the Free State province of South Africa.
Town 46 km west of Harrismith and {{convert|45|km}} east of Bethlehem. The new village was laid out in 1905 on the farms Mooifontein and Driekuil, acquired from Adriaan and Johannes Bezuidenhout. It became a municipality in 1906.
Dutch Reformed Church and town's naming
File:Dutch_Reformed_Church,_van_Riebeeck_Street,_Kestell.jpg
It is named after the Reverend Dr. John Daniel Kestell (1854 - 1941), Anglo-Afrikaner minister of the Dutch Reformed Church from 1894 to 1903, author and cultural leader, who played an important role in the Anglo-Boer War and later helped with the Bible translations into Afrikaans.{{cite book|last=Raper|first=P. E. |title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names| url= https://archive.org/stream/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames/SaPlaceNames#page/n245/mode/2up | year=1989|publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers|isbn=978-0-947464-04-2|page=245|via=Internet Archive}} The Dutch Reformed Church building, designed by famed architect of dozens of churches and the Voortrekker Monument, Gerard Moerdijk, was inaugurated on 31 March 1928.
The township was surveyed and laid out by William Homan in 1905. To prevent jealousy he 'called the long streets after the tall members of the committee and the short streets after the short members.'When the committee insisted that Homan had a street named after him, he selected 'a rough short street' which still bears that name.Memoirs of William Homan{{Better source needed|date=October 2017}}
=Legacy=
File:Prof. Dr JD Kestell grave in Bloemfontein 02.jpg
Prof. Dr JD Kestell at the Anglo-Boer War Museum in Bloemfontein is named after him.
War Battle
It is located {{convert|20|km}} southeast from the Battle of Groenkop-site of the Second Boer War. The battle took place on 25 December 1901 when General Christiaan De Wet's Boer troops defeated a British column.File:Seemahale_sa_Moruti_J.D_Kestell_02.jpg
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.kestell.co.za/index.html Kestell - South Africa] Website managed by Kestell residents
{{Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality}}
Category:Populated places in the Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality
Category:Populated places established in 1905
Category:Populated places founded by Afrikaners
Category:1905 establishments in South Africa
{{FreeState-geo-stub}}